Halo-Naruto: The Fire Within
by Azores
Summary: Following the Battle of Psi Serpentis, the fleeing UNSC Everest find itself in a star system far from the war with the Covenant. Teaming up with an old flame from the URF, Admiral Cole finds upon a world unlike anything he has ever seen before. While on that very same world, the inhabitants of it will soon have their lives changed forever. Slight-AU (Updated Archives)
1. Promo Trailer

(Please note that this is an experimental promotion trailer for a potential future Story on comprising of story elements and characters from 2 Different Universes and possibly one other. (Halo; Naruto) and maybe subject to change in the future. I don't own Halo or Naruto.)

* * *

Project Title: 'Stranded' (Title subject to change.)

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 **(Scene Opening, overhead view of a war-torn village)(Konoha)**

An enormous village, large and expansive, was in ruin and burning in several areas. The sounds of Gunfire, Plasma Whines, and an the occasional screams of a panicked civilian could be heard throughout the sprawling village. A large mountain towered over the village, with the faces of four men carved into the Cliffside. All four have various levels of damage done to them.

The village is being invaded, and is on the verge of total collapse.

* * *

 **(Street-side view of an open square.)**

The streets of the village were covered with the signs and scars of battle. The grounds were littered with the wreckage of war machines and the bodies of the dead. Civilian, Shinobi, Marine, and Covenant. In the mist of this carnage and devastation, this field of death, there was a small glimmer of life.

* * *

He crawled towards the M45 shotgun, trying desperately to reach it. It was no more than 5 meters from him, but it might as well have been miles away. His entire body ached, every muscle felt on fire. His broken leg and fractured ribs weren't helping much, either.

His matted blonde hair was caked in dried blood and dirt. His whole body was covered in dirt or dried blood. His black armor was cracked, broken, and slightly burnt in several places. On his right shoulder guard, the letters 'ODST' were scratched and faded.

He needed to move, though. If he didn't, he was going to die. He could hear the calm but heavy footsteps behind him.

* * *

A heavily armored hoof stepped down into the paved street. The large and imposing Sangheili it belonged to towering some 8'6", donning dark purple armor, signifying his rank as a Supreme Commander. His armor had a few cracks and dents in it, and a couple trickles of purple blood flowed down his left arm.

Nevertheless, he was still standing. His opponent, the young human boy some 6 meters in front of him, wasn't.

He had to admit, this human had given him a considerable challenge, doing a fair amount of damage before being finally brought into its pitiful state before him. But, the result were still the same, he had won. Now, it was time to finish this pathetic human's life and march on to victory for the Covenant.

* * *

As he took a step forward, his deep, thunderous voice spoke out, "All hail the conquering hero." He mocked.

He continued his calm and slow pace towards the human, who was trying to crawl towards a human weapon. He spoke again.

"The hero, who grew up seen as nothing more than a monster."

Grunts and labored breaths could be heard coming from the boy, who was desperately trying to reach the weapon, but his progress was slow. Every breath and inch of movement seemed increasingly labored and tiresome. It felt as though he was trying to fight for his life and fight off exhaustion at the same time.

"Who tried to change everyone's view of him."

The boy was now 4 meters from the weapon. The Sangheili was some 5 meters from the boy.

"Who then betrayed and turned his back on them, in order to find power and strength." He snarled.

He stepped over the dead body of a shinobi.

"Power and strength he could use, so he could protect those he held closest in his heart." He mocked once more, walking past the smoking ruin of a burning Covenant Wraith Tank.

The boy was 3 meters away now. The Sangheili 4 meters. The boy's pain level was indescribable, but he continue to muster what little strength he had to push himself forward. He looked up, past the shotgun, to see a figure lying propped up against the rubble of a collapsed building, some 4 meters away. His vision was too blurry to make it out, but he already knew who it was.

"And when the coming storm finally came, along with their hour of need, he returned, hoping to bring them Salvation. But instead, for all your power, all your strength... you could not keep them from _Damnation_." He stated, pointing his left hand at the fallen boy.

The boy could make out some of the details of the person, most notably the pink hair that covered most of her face. A few cuts and bruises dotted her body, a few tears in her bright red outfit. She had a small cut on her head that was covered in dried blood. He could see her chest rising and falling slowly. The boy was 2 meters away from the gun. The Sangheili was 3 meters away from him.

"All hail the conquering hero." He spoke once more, holding his hand up in the air, as if waiting for an applause that would never come. "Let us forever remember him..." He brought his hand down. He was now 2 meters from the boy. His yellow eyes narrowed. "...As a Monster. A Betrayer. A Failure."

The boy was less than a meter from the gun, he was so close. The Sangheili was a meter from him. The Sangheili snorted, "Time and Luck may have been your allies, young warrior. But now, they have abandoned you. As have your so-called comrades, those who are not dead, anyway. For you see..."

The boy was inches from the gun, only to feel a sharp pain in his back, causing him to gasp out. The Supreme Commander's hoof laid in the center of his back. "Your destruction is the will of the gods." He grabbed the back of the boy's head with his left hand, "And we, _The Covenant_ , are their instruments."

He lifted the boy off the ground and turned him to face him, cerulean blue eyes meeting yellow eyes. The Sangheili grabbed a hilt on the right side of his waist and activated his Energy Sword, twin blades of plasma glistening. In the corner, the girl's emerald eyes began to flutter open, exhaustion trying to take her back into her slumber.

The Supreme Commander looked deep into the glaring eyes of the human boy, noticing the strange whisker like marks on his cheeks. He thought little of it, though. It did not matter now. He spoke once more, "And now, like the rest of your race, you must be silenced." He brought the Energy Sword up to strike. The boy glared and growled at him, still trying to break free of the Sangheili's grip.

The girl was now fully awake, and gasped out in horror as the Sangheili prepared to strike. All she could do was call out his name before the Alien Monster moved to finish off his opponent.

"Naruto!"

* * *

 **(Screen goes black.)**

 **(Scene Open, view of a small burnt down town)**

 **(Begin Song: 'Who Will Save You Now?'-By Les Friction (Recommend playing song while reading)**

 **(00:00-00:40-soft echoes start off the song)**

A small sleepy town, devastated and burnt out. Bodies lay strewed out in the streets, charred and mangled. Konoha Team 8 walks down the main street, horrified at what they're seeing. Hinata holds her hands up to cover her mouth, while Kiba tries to comfort his dog, Akamaru, whose unnerved by the devastation before them, while Kiba himself is trying to keep his own calm. Shino and Kurenai merely look on in silence, unsure of what to make of such an attack.

 **('00:40-00:52-soft piano notes playing')**

A young girl cries out in the mist of a destroyed town, with numerous dead surround her, including her own parents.

 **(Scene Change to the orbit of the Planet, near the Planet's Moon.)**

 **('Tell the world I'll survive.' (x2)**

A Valiant-Class Super-Heavy Cruiser, 3 Paris-Class Heavy Frigates, a Parabola-Class Freighter, and a Springhill-Class Mining Ship move in formation and descend towards the Planet below, specifically a large island off the southern coast of a large peninsula.

 **('Tell the world I'm alive.')**

On the Bridge of the Valiant-Class Cruiser, Admiral Preston Cole looks down at a holo-pad, observing the geography of the of the island and the surrounding area.

 **(Hangar Bay of the UNSC Everest.)**

 **('Tell the world I'll survive.')**

Several UNSC Marine Platoons load onto several Pelican Dropships, preparing to fly out towards their destination. Overhead, a trio of Longsword Fighters prepare to take off and provide escort for the transports.

* * *

 **(Dirt Path in the middle of an enormous forest, nighttime.)**

 **('I want you to know, All is blacked out but continues to grow')**

Naruto, donning a black ANBU-style outfit, a large Katana-like Sword on his left hip, and a small backpack, stares up to the starry night sky. He doesn't have his Leaf Village headband on. He looks down to the headband in his right hand, the metal showing his reflection. He stared sadly at it, then looked back behind him, as if contemplating something.

 **('I need you to see, Nothing will change unless you believe')**

His gaze hardens, though. He turns his head back to the path in front of him, his facial features showing determination. He lowered his right hand. Taking a deep breath, he starts to walk forward. His grip on the headband loosens, as the headband begins to slowly slip out. He makes no attempt to tighten his grip on it as it slips out of his hand completely.

 **(Small Island village, near the coast.)**

 **('I won't let it go')**

A Marine loads a M739 SAW and aims down the sights of her weapon.

 **(Same village, now under attack by Covenant soldiers.)**

 **('I'll stick to the plan, deep in my throes')**

Under fire, a UNSC Marine carries one of his wounded comrades into cover, while three other Marines provide cover fire.

 **(Forest setting, next to a large oak-like tree.)**

 **('I won't let it go')**

A young blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl, roughly 6 years old, looms over a mortally wounded Marine, with tears in her eyes while two Medics attempt to save his life. The Marine, with tears in his own eyes and blood trickling out the corner of his mouth, tries to soothe and calm the girl, despite knowing he's about to die any minute now.

 **(Open Skies over the Land of Fire.)**

 **('I'll fight 'till the end, And then you will know')**

Numerous UNSC Broadswords and Covenant Seraphs dogfight in the open skies near a Paris-Class Heavy Frigate, which has come under attack and is attempting to provide support with its Point-Defense Guns. Several Craft on both sides are destroyed.

 **(UNSC Everest, Crew Quarters.)**

 **('Who will save you now?')**

An ODST Colonel, brown hair, hazel eyes, and a scar running down the left side of his face, looks down at a picture in his hand.

 **(Konoha, under siege by Covenant Air Forces.)**

 **('Who will save you now?')**

Sakura, with a toddler in her arms, flees with a large group of people in the streets towards the shelters under the Cliffside. The toddler looks up and watches as several Covenant Banshees commence strafing runs on other groups of fleeing civilians, while the Shinobi force desperately try to halt them and defend the Civilians.

 **(Konoha, different district of the Village.)**

 **('Tell the world I'll survive')**

Kakashi and several other Shinobi clash with Covenant Ground Forces. Kakashi personally engages a Sangheili Ultra, who slashes at him with its Energy Sword. He ducks under and strikes the Ultra with his Katana, only to be blocked by the Sangheili's personal Energy Shield.

 **('Who will save you now?')**

The Sangheili snarls and punches Kakashi away, who responds with a barrage of shurikens, which are finally able to break the Sangheili's shielding, with a few striking the Ultra's armor and flesh. It's not enough to kill it, though. The enraged Ultra charges forward and opens fire with a Plasma Rifle, forcing Kakashi into cover. As he dives into cover, he flicks three Kunai out and strike three Unggoy firing at him, killing them.

 **(Konoha, Ruined Building.)**

 **('Who will save you now?')**

Shikamaru and Ino are hiding behind a table inside a destroyed building, as a pack of Jiralhanae are patrolling past, attempting to find any human survivors. Several are sniffing the air, while others are scanning their surrounding with their weapons. Shikamaru has his arms around Ino and his hand over her mouth, trying to keep her calm and quiet. Ino, with tears streaming down her face, is breathing heavily, her heart racing. She is terrified beyond words and clings to Shikamaru desperately.

* * *

 **(Konoha, Chunin Exam Tournament, Arena.)**

 **('Alone with this vision')**

Sasuke, with his Sharingan active, stares down his opponent with a smirk, ready to beat down his opponent.

 **(A destroyed and occupied city, with the massive remnants of a Covenant Supercarrier in the mist of it.)**

 **('Alone with this sound')**

Five CRS Light Cruisers rise up from the wreck of the crashed Covenant Supercarrier, along with a mighty CCS Battlecruiser. Each of the ships have minor forms of damage, but are still operational enough to be a serious threat to anyone against them.

 **(Naruto's mindscape.)**

 **('Alone with my dreams, I carry around')**

Naruto stands before a massive cage, with large, barred doors that have the Kanji for 'Seal' on it. Behind the cage, a pair of blood red eyes stare down at him, the Monster they belong to growling at the boy's presence.

* * *

 **( Open field, deep inside a forest in the Land of Fire.)**

 **('I will not take from you and you will not owe')**

The Sangheili Supreme Commander, his Energy Sword drawn, squares off against Orochimaru, whose smiling deviously at him. The combatant are some 10 meters apart, staring each other down and waiting for the other to make a move. The Sangheili growls as he prepares for battle against this unusual opponent.

 **(UNSC/Innie Settlement.)**

 **('I will protect you from the fire below')**

A short blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl, 13, with a Katana on her left side, smiles as she share her company with Naruto, who she's grown very close to. Naruto looks at her and smiles back, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

 **(Dirt path, near an ancient ruined city on an island.)**

 **('It's not in my mind, It's here at my side. Go tell the world, that I am alive')**

Kakashi and the ODST Colonel slug it out in an intense hand-to-hand combat. Though Kakashi is the better of the two, the Colonel is holding his own against the Shinobi. Kakashi lands a punch directly on the Colonel's face, forcing him to recoil backwards. Kakashi keeps up the momentum, and lands three successful hits on the Colonel's ribs. This causes him to double over, leaving him open for an uppercut by the Shinobi that sends him slightly off the ground and away from his opponent.

The ODST quickly recovers and uses his airborne position to his advantage, twisting into the fall and rolling into a kneeling position. Just in time to block a descending axe kick by Kakashi, and retaliates by shoving the leg to the side and kicking Kakashi in the chest, sending him back. The Colonel takes the initiative and lands several successful punches on Kakashi's sides and the side of his face, sending Kakashi rolling several feet away to the ground.

The Colonel then rushes the downed Shinobi, who flicks several Kunai at him to impede him as the Shinobi stands back up. The ODST jumps to his right, onto the side of a tree and bounces off it towards Kakashi, delivering a devastating superman punch directly onto the side of Kakashi's face, sending him flying backwards several feet. The Colonel rolls into the jump and stops in a kneeling combative stance.

* * *

 **(Wave Country. In the nearby forest.)**

 **('03:10-03:15')**

Naruto, lying on his back, looks at the Armored Giant that looms over him with pure awe. The 7' tall green armored warrior had protected him from a Jiralhanae Chieftain that had tried to kill him. He notices a symbol and a few numbers on the left chest plate. S-072. The Spartan II looks down at him, silently. He's unsure of what to make of the being in front of him.

 **(Covenant Occupied City, destroyed plaza near the wrecked Covenant Supercarrier.)**

 **('03:15-03:30')**

A Spartan II, S-072, is engaged in heavy combat with a Covenant Lance. She fires away with her MA5C Assault Rifle, killing several Unggoy and forcing the commanding Sangheili Major to take cover. Spartan-072 tosses a couple grenades at the entrenched Covenant Infantry and kills a couple more. The Sangheili Major and his 3 Sangheili Minor return fire on the Spartan, who pops out of cover and fires off a quick burst that burst the shield of a Sangheili Minor, before firing again and killing the same minor.

 **(Konoha Markets. Under Covenant attack.)**

 **('03:30-03:54)**

Three Spartan IIs, S-072; S-108; S-052, engage Covenant forces assaulting their position with the help of a Company of ODST. Spartan-052 fires into the mass of Covenant Infantry with his heavy machine gun. Spartan-108 picks off Covenant leaders with his SRS99 AM, and Spartan-072 is with the ODST in the front holding the line while civilians evacuate to the nearest shelters.

The onslaught of Covenant Soldiers is relentless, as the Covenant throw themselves at the Human defenses. Casualties are mounting on both sides at the fighting drags on. The Covenant begin to bring in their armor, as 4 Wraiths advance on the UNSC positions.

* * *

 **(Konoha. Chunin Exams.)**

 **('Alone in this vision, Alone and blind. Go tell the World that I'm still alive')**

Sasuke and Naruto are fighting one another in an intense Taijutsu battle, but it's becoming obvious Sasuke has the upper hand as Naruto is beaten back repeatedly.

 **(Skies above the UNSC/Innie Settlement.)**

 **( 'Alone in this vision, Alone and blind. Go tell the World that I'm still alive')**

A Longsword, damaged and out of control, descends at a dangerously rapid pace towards the ground. The Pilot desperately tries to regain control of the aircraft, but is failing as the ground becomes closer and closer. He's now mere seconds from crashing into the earth, as he closes his eyes and awaits the inevitable.

 **(Konoha. Open Square.)**

 **('Who will save you now')**

Naruto clashes with the Sangheili Supreme Commander, roaring as he slams his sword upward and connects with the Sangheili's Energy Sword. The Supreme Commander snarls at him.

 **(Skies above Konoha.)**

 **('Who will save you now')**

A couple hundred ODST Drop-pods are screaming down towards the embattled Village. The Soldiers inside prepare for combat once more against a familiar foe.

 **(Rocky outcrop overlooking Kumogakure.)**

 **('Tell the world I'll survive')**

A large cloaked figure, his features hidden by the cloak's design, looks down at the Hidden Ninja Village below, not moving one inch, even with the breeze. All that can be seen are two yellow eyes piercing down, observing. Watching.

 **(Konoha Street.)**

 **('Who will save you now')**

An M808B Scorpion MBT opens fire on some entrenched Covenant Forces, while a Platoon of Marines provide support as the Tank advances.

 **(Konoha Open Plaza.)**

 **('Who will save you now')**

Sakura looks above her, holding Naruto, whose face is hidden and isn't moving, as tears fall freely while she watches what transpires in front of her.

 **(In front of her, some 100 meters away.)**

 **('Tell the world...')**

A large dust cloud has been kicked up, covering a large area of the Village. However, inside the dust cloud, the silhouette of a monster can be seen. A monster with what looks like Nine Tails. The Monster roars in delight at its freedom.

 **(Coastal Town in the Land of Fire, nighttime.)**

 **('I'm alive!')**

Off the coast of a sleepy little port town, a enormous and bulky creature slowly rises out of the water, its details mostly hidden in the darkness. A low grumbling sound can be heard resonating from the creature, who has slept for 400 years. Now, all shall know of the return of the king. Glowing orange eyes stared out at the coast, as the mighty creature gave out a colossal and familiar roar.

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(Song stops. Screen cuts black. Story title fades in: 'Stranded')

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(Release Date: TBA)

Let me know what you guys thought about it in the reviews! Likes, Dislikes, doesn't matter, I wanna know. :)

Azores


	2. Prologue Arc: Episode 1

**Hey guys, what's up! Azores here with another story for you to read and enjoy. This one I've been thinking about doing for quite sometime, I just wasn't sure how to approach it.**

 **Before we start this story, I felt that I needed to point out a few things beforehand.**

 **First off, this story begins roughly 15 years before the first chapter of the Naruto Manga/Anime. So it's going to be awhile before we see any of the Konoha 12. (Not too terribly long and this doesn't apply to their respective Sensei. Maybe 7-8 Prologues max if I do more than one for a certain event.) This is because I want to create an entire Universe full of interesting characters outside of the 5 Great Shinobi Nations. (Leaf, Cloud, Mist, Earth, and Sand.) Don't worry, though, because each of the 'Prologue' Chapters will jump forward about 2-3 years. So we should be seeing the Konoha 12 soon enough.**

 **Secondly, there will be a considerable amount of attention devoted to character development as the story progresses. I felt one of the main things the Naruto series had problems with was character development, especially later on with the female characters of the Naruto Universe. This will be one of the focal points of my story as I intend to create a multitude of characters (both canon and original) with rich backgrounds and that are continuously developing as the story goes on. (hopefully, lol.)**

 **Third, the location. I have looked all over the internet for good maps of the Naruto World. Surprisingly, they are far and very few in between (-_-'). Luckily, I was able to find an amazing one on Deviantart, created by xShadowRebirthx. They went into such detail, that they created both a political and geographical version of the map, putting massive amounts of detail into the map. So shout out to them for doing that, because I know that wasn't easy to accomplish.**

 **Fourth, the story will kinda largely disregard the events of Shippuden, due to the fact the timeline is going to change immensely after the era of the Road to Genin. (That doesn't mean, however, that certain events won't happen.)**

 **Fifth, while this is officially a two-fandom crossover, I may add a third fandom to it later on as the prologues progress. (Hopefully will have made up my mind by the time we're at that point.) Don't worry, though, cause if I do add it, I already have come up with the backstory as to how it will tie in with the other two universes.**

 **Sixth, as of this moment, I have no plans set for what pairings are going to partake between the Konoha 12. They will more than likely, however, not be the same as canon. While I'm open to suggestions, (pm instead of review if you're gonna do this. I'd rather not start another pointless fight on the subject in the review section over which pairing was better.) please don't be mad if I don't end up doing the one you in particular wanted. While I do write these stories for your entertainment, at the end of the day, these are still my stories and I can do what I please with them.**

 **Finally, the Covenant will make an appearance in this story, and will be the main antagonists... for a while.**

 **I would also like to point out that while I don't mind and actually encourage constructive criticism, please note that this is a work of fiction, and may not be entirely canonical or accurate with their respective Universes. (I will try my best, though.) So try not to take it too seriously.**

 **Anyway, onto the chapter and I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

 **Hmm... While I'm thinking of it, before the chapter starts, what about Intro Music for the Prologue Arc? (Cause all Animes have decent music to go with it.)**

 **Oh, wait. I know. How 'bout this?**

 **Intro Music:**

 **'You Know My Name'-By Chris Cornell (Vocals of Soundgarden and Audioslave)**

 **What do you guys think? Lemme know your thoughts on this.**

* * *

 **!WARNING!**

 **This story contains content not suited for younger readers, such as Violence, Blood and Gore, Language, and Explicit Sexual Content. This Chapter's Rating will be placed at M-Rated. Future Chapters may, and most likely will, switch back and forth between the T and M ratings.**

 **Regardless, Reader Discretion for this Chapter is advised.**

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 **I don't own Halo or Naruto.**

 **Bold-My Own Words**

 ** _Bold & Italic-Locations, Time & Calendar_**

Normal-Narrative

"Normal"-Person Speaking

'Normal'-Thoughts

 _"Italic"-Foreign Languague_

 _'Italic'-Radio Chatter_

 _/Italic\\-AI/Computer typing_

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 _"Listen to me, Covenant. I am Vice Admiral Preston J. Cole, commanding the human flagship, Everest. You claim to be the holy and glorious inheritors of the universe? I spit on your so-called holiness. You dare judge us unfit? After I have personally sent more than three hundred of your vainglorious ships to hell? After kicking your collective butts off Harvest - not once - but twice? From where I sit, we are the worthy inheritors. You think otherwise, you can come and try to prove me wrong."_

 _Vice Admiral Preston J. Cole, during the Battle of Psi Serpentis_

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 **Prologue Arc-Episode 1  
-A New World; A Fresh Start-  
(Part 1)**

 ** _0315-June 10, 2543 (54 days after the Battle of Psi Serpentis)  
Unknown Star System; 362 Light-Years from the Psi Serpentis System_**

In the silent depths of space inside a Star System, an enormous Blue Gas Giant, 10 times the size of Jupiter, laid in orbit as the fourth celestial body orbiting a yellow star, with some 34 moons orbiting it. It's age is timeless and forgotten, standing as a silent guardian for the small, life-wielding planet further in the star system. It continued its slow and lazy orbit around the star, uneventful and rather peacefully.

But this peace was about to be interrupted.

Near one of the Gas Giant's moons, a massive hole in space tore open, the iconic sign of a slipspace portal opening. Through the portal, the silhouette of a massive UNSC Valiant-Class Super-Heavy Cruiser exited out and returned to the world of normal space. The ship had a couple burns and scratches, more towards the back end of the ship, but otherwise the ship was fine.

1518 meters in length, 373 meters in width, and 420 meters in height, the Valiant-Class are the largest Cruisers made by the UNSC so far. And, with 3 Magnetic Accelerator Cannons, each one capable of firing an 800-ton Slug of Tungsten at 55 km a second, 50 over-sized Archer missile pods totaling 2400 missiles, and 40 50mm AAA point-defense guns, they're also some of the most powerful warships ever built by the UNSC. Their armor is infamous for their resiliency, with 3 meters of Titanium-A armor plating, though this vessel also had 6 inches of Tungsten-MA coating the main hull for better protection against Plasma-weaponry.

On the sides of the bow, large printed words could be made out.

 **UNSC Everest-BC-112**

* * *

 _ **UNSC Everest  
**_ _ **Bridge**_

"Sir, all system's are showing green across the board. Minimal hull damage towards the rear of the ship, but otherwise we're okay, Sir." The Chief Engineer spoke, looking over to his superior officer. The man he was looking at was 56 years old, physically, roughly 6'2", weighed 170 pounds. He was wearing a grey uniform, with the insignia ranks of Vice Admiral on his shoulders. His face was somewhat wrinkled, but despite his graying black hair, his dark brown eyes still shined with the vigor and resolve of a younger man.

The aged Admiral, though, wasn't looking at the engineer. His attention was focused on the holo-pad, which showed him the entire star system in detail, showing the six planets that orbited the Yellow Star in the center. He was also deep in thought. What they survived was in all honesty, a miracle. Not many people could say they experienced a gas giant going supernova and lived to tell the tale.

Then again, not many people had lived the impossible life of Vice Admiral Preston J. Cole.

He leaned back in his command chair, "Are our fighters ready to take off?" He spoke.

"Yes, Sir." the Communications Officer spoke.

"Good, have two wings of our Longsword Fighters fly out and conduct recon of the surrounding area. I don't want any surprise, in case our... friends followed us."

The Comms Officer quickly saluted and went back to his station to inform the pilots of their new mission. Cole turned over to his Weapons Station, "What the status of our MAC guns?"

"All guns are showing green across the board. We have them loaded and holding at 50% charge, Sir."

"Good, maintain that level. Navigation, give us half power to engines and get us out of this moon's shadow."

The ship shuddered as the engines roared to life, driving the massive warship forward as they stayed on alert for anything that could pose a threat.

Especially if a certain Alien Hegemony decided to rear their ugly heads.

* * *

"Sir, do you have a moment to speak?" A voice, with a slight American Southern accent to it, spoke behind him.

Admiral Cole turned around to see an ODST soldier standing at attention. Cole motioned for the soldier to relax, which he did. "About what, Colonel?"

"About our little issue concerning the Spartan IIs on board?"

Eyes widened in recognition of the subject,to which then Cole motioned for the Colonel to follow him to a more secluded room. The two men walked down the hallway and entered a small room so they could speak in private.

"Alright, Colonel. Speak your mind."

The ODST soldier took off his helmet, revealing a man of roughly 32 years of age, physically, with short brown hair and hazel eyes. A scar ran down the left side of his face, over his left eye. He stood at 6'4" and was 190 pounds of lean, solid muscle. This was a man that had seen many years of combat, a veteran of numerous battles.

Colonel Leonard Joshua Micheal Barnes. Commanding Officer of the 212th ODST Regiment.

"Sir, when are we going to confront the Spartans about the fact that we aren't going back to the UNSC? Because frankly, I'd rather not have two Spartans rampaging across the ship."

"I know, Colonel, I know. I've been pondering the best way to break the news to them, but frankly, I honestly don't know how they're going to take it." Admiral Cole sighed, running his hands through his fading black hair. The three-man Spartan II team had been a last minute addition to his crew roster after he had acquired the 5,400 strong Marine Brigade and 1,000 strong ODST Regiment for his fake mission to capture a Covenant ship, both of which were in actuality made up of numerous Battalions, Regiments, and Companies that were fed up with the UNSC, the war, everything, and wanted to start anew. And this wasn't including the 600 Marines and 200 ODST that already called Everest home beforehand.

Needless to say, their ship was cramped.

In all truth, however, it was honestly his fault that the Spartans were on board to begin with. He had lied to his superiors about a plan to cripple and capture a Covenant Warship, bringing it back home to Earth for study, which was suppose to have happen during the Battle of Psi Serpentis. ONI, in their infinite wisdom, had decided to attach three Spartan IIs with his ship to assist in the capture, who were currently sleeping in cryo. And now, they were stuck with three super-soldiers, and he had no clue how they were going to react when they found out that they weren't going home.

Colonel Barnes sighed, "Well, shit. I guess we have no choice but to cross that bridge when we cross it, and hope for the best. So, what's the plan for now, Sir?"

"Keep any talk about leaving the UNSC quiet. Better yet, just don't talk about it at all. As for the ship as a whole, we're going to do a scouting mission of this system and see if there's a planet suitable for us to colonize. For now, return to your men and prepare for a possible recon mission."

"Yes, Sir." The ODST soldier snapped a salute, which was returned, and he exited out of the room to inform his men of the Admiral's orders.

Rear Admiral Cole walked back to the bridge, and hope he had no more surprises in store for him today.

* * *

 _ **5 Hours Later  
Exiting nearby Asteroid Field in between 3rd and 4th Planets**_

"Sir, our scout probes are confirming that there appears to be a habitable planet past this Asteroid Field. Third Planet in the system, Sir." the Navigation Officer spoke up.

"Show me." Cole ordered.

The holo-pad changed into a view of the 3rd Planet, showing in detail the oceans and landmasses that doted the planet. The Data was showing that the planet was roughly a tenth smaller than Earth, with about 65% of the Planet covered in salt water. He could see there were 3 continents and hundreds of small and large islands that dotted the Planet.

The scout probes were primarily focusing on the Northern Hemisphere of the Planet, namely a relatively large continent that was situated there, that had a smaller sub-continent just opposite of it across the ocean a few hundred miles. Aside from the large desert to the East, the continent looked very promising for colonization. A few of the Probes were scouting out a large island off the southern coast of a peninsula on the main continent's far eastern end. The probes were also reporting that the island was devoid of any concentrated heat signatures... wait what?

He looked over the holo-pad again, and sure enough, all across the planet, there were numerous concentrations of heat signatures. Which likely meant only one thing.

Civilization. There was an intelligent race down there.

Cole sighed, while the probes weren't reporting any significantly large scale electrical sources, save for a few areas but still meaning they had only just recently discovered electronics, the fact that there was an intelligent race down there meant that colonizing this planet probably wasn't a goo-

"Sir, multiple Slipspace ruptures detected at our 2 O'Clock, roughly 35,000 km away!" A Navigation Officer spoke up.

The room went into a minor panic. Was it the Covenant? Had they tracked them down and followed them here, looking for payback after the destruction of their fleet?

But instead of a Covenant Fleet greeting them, they were surprised to see 5 Paris-Class Heavy Frigates, 3 Parabola-Class Freighters, and 2 Springhill-Class Mining Ship exiting Slipspace in a unorganized formation. But their surprise turned into resentment when they saw the lettering on the sides of the ships.

 **URF**

* * *

The United Rebel Front. The bane of the UNSC's existence, until the Covenant showed up. And now he had a battlegroup right in front of him. This wasn't good. The MAC guns were only half charged, they had roughly 7% of their Archer missiles left, and only 2 nuclear weapons left. They were at a major disadvantage.

Luck, however, was on their side today. This group wasn't hear to fight them.

"Sir, we're being hailed by the lead Frigate." A Comms Officer spoke up.

This gave him pause, thinking for several seconds before speaking up, "What's our IFF tags identifying that ship as?"

The Navigation Officer blinked a couple times, surprised by the request, but nonetheless, carried out with the order as he checked the ID on the Frigate. After a few seconds, he replied, "Sir, IFF is identifying the lead Frigate as the UNSC Bellicose."

Bellicose. Lyrenne's ship. His posture softened and relaxed. They weren't in any danger. He knew why she was here.

"Patch them through." He spoke, leaning back in his chair as he watched the video screen in front of him change.

The screen changed to show the image of a woman, roughly 52 years old, physically, with graying brown hair and dark blue eyes. She wore a black uniform which had the insignia ranks for Rear Admiral on her shoulders. Her face, despite her age, wasn't very wrinkled. She had a smile on her face as she looked at Cole through the monitor.

The very same smile that he had fallen for all those years ago.

* * *

"Lyrenne Castilla." Cole said.

"Hello, Preston. It's been a long time." She spoke, her voice soft but firm.

"Indeed it has. So, how come I'm looking at a battlegroup of 10 ships? I was under the impression that it would be just our two ships." He asked. His crew was already aware of what's going on, hence why none of them looked too terribly surprised. Everyone of them had agreed to leave the UNSC and start anew with a colony somewhere. Nevertheless, that didn't mean they weren't tense at the sight of a URF Battlegroup.

"First off, you completely missed the rendezvous point." She stated rather bluntly, obviously irritated by this fact. In his defense, when you're trying to escape a gas giant that's going supernova, because you just fired 100-something nukes into its core, the typical mindset of escaping is 'anywhere but here'.

He chose to keep that to himself though as she continued talking.

"Second, these are all the people that wanted to come as well, as well as the ones that know of our little plan. Those Parabolas in the back? Each one has got some 100,000 passengers on them, and that's not including the crew for each of them. Not only that, we have another 3 Parabolas and 2 Phoenix-class ships full of colonists coming into the system behind us, too, from 4 different systems. Plus, we'll need a lot of people to perform various tasks if we want our colony to be successful and expand."

She got her hands on a couple Phoenix-Class ships? Lyrenne's been busy.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to have the extra manpower, plus those Springhill mining ships would come in very handy for mining. And they could disassemble the Parabolas and use them to build housing and hydroponic farms. They probably already have enough supplies to feed everyone on board, as they're known to be able to carry enough food and water to supply a small city.

"So where exactly are we colonizing? What system are we going to?" Cole asked.

"You're already hovering above it."

"What?"

"We stumbled across this system by accident 2 years ago, when we surveying the cluster. When we noticed the fact that there was an intelligent race living due to a scan through the heat sigs, we opted against trying to colonize it. However, a couple of our eggheads decided they wanted to leave a couple observation probes behind. When they came back a few months later, they couldn't believe what the probes showed them." Lyrenne spoke, leaning forward into her chair.

"What did they find out?" Cole inquired. Lyrenne smiled, then pressed a couple buttons on her data-pad. A few moments later, Cole's personal data-pad beeped, signifying that he had received a message. He pulled it out and clicked on the data-file. The screen changed to show a village, which very much reminded him of a small, sleepy little Asian village back on Earth. However, it was what he saw next was what left him speechless.

Walking about the village and its surrounding area, going about their lives, were what looked like human beings.

The footage had been put on several of the larger screens, and left the bridge crew dumbfounded, for a lack of better words. This system was uncharted by the UNSC, meaning no-one had been to it beforehand. So there was no way this was some Colony that had been forgotten by by the UNSC. And the technology being observed looked so primitive, which meant this wasn't likely some URF Colony either. 'What the hell is going on here?' Was the only thought Vice Admiral Cole had running through his mind.

As if sensing Cole's confusion, Lyrenne spoke up once more, "Believe me, this had our eggheads baffled for hours on end. I assure you, though, that this isn't a joke. Nor is this some Colony that we set up long ago and just forgot about. We weren't sure what to do at the time when we learned about them, so we kept quiet about it until we could decide what to do regarding these people."

"So then how come you didn't try to integrated them into your faction or colonize the planet?" Cole questioned, somewhat skeptical that they would just keep quiet about something like this.

"We felt that we had no right to involve them with our fight with the UNSC."

Cole raised an eyebrow at this.

Lyrenne closed her eyes and sighed, "Look, not everyone in the URF is an extremist like that, Preston. Most of us just don't like with the way the UNSC runs things. There's very few of us who would actually resort to nuking cities."

Truth be told, they really had no room to talk either. The UNSC had done the same just to quell rebellions. Regardless, they had other, more important matters to discuss at the moment.

"That still doesn't answer why here, though. If they're humans living on this planet, wouldn't it be best to leave them be?" He wasn't exactly liking the idea of a group of primitives getting their hands on guns or tanks, god forbid.

"Preston. I want you to be honest with me about something." Her face was completely rigid and serious. From his own memories, she typically wasn't like this unless it was something extremely important. "Go ahead."

"How much longer do you think the UNSC has before the Covenant wipes them out?"

* * *

The room went silent after that sentence came out. The one thing no-one wanted to think or talk about. The idea of losing didn't just mean humanity lost the war, it meant humanity would go extinct. For Cole, it had become nothing more than a damn cycle of winning a battle at one colony, but losing a colony or two somewhere else.

Every battle he would win in space, would get overshadowed by the Covenant glassing two or three worlds, killing millions every time. It didn't matter how many times you won in space, if every one of your colonies are wiped out in the process. In truth, the UNSC probably had another 10 years before the Covenant would be at Earth's doorstep. And this was only because of the Cole Protocol being enforced.

"You and I both know that every day the UNSC gets weaker and weaker with each colony lost. And the Covenant don't seem to be slowing down or getting any weaker, even with the number of ships you've destroyed, Preston. This place," She gestured to the planet below, "Could be used to rebuild Humanity. According to the data from the probes, this planet already has some 200 million people living on it. We could rebuild Humanity and start all over. No war. No Insurrection. No _Covenant_. A fresh start."

While what she was proposing wasn't a bad idea, what she was suggesting would also take decades to fully implement. A full century, even. Time they may not have. As far as they knew, they could be right next door to Covenant Space and not even know it.

However, this maybe the best opportunity they're gonna get at the same time. It was worth at leasting... toying with to see where it goes.

With a sigh, Cole spoke up, "Alright. We'll send down a scouting party to survey a few spots for colonization. We focus on building up _our_ colony first, then talk about communicating with the locals."

"Excellent." Lyrenne replied, satisfied that Cole had, mostly, agreed to her plan. "We'll start right away."

"Lyrenne, wait. There's one more thing we need to discuss." Cole suddenly spoke, making sure he had her full attention.

"What is it?"

There was a short pause, before Cole replied, with a firm voice, "I want to meet _her._ "

Lyrenne's eyes widened slightly, realizing what Cole was talking about. "Preston, I don't think this is a good time to talk about this."

"Then you shouldn't have mentioned her when you contacted me before." Cole growled out, narrowing his eyes, "Now, I'll move my ship in position to link up with your group. Also, I want you to come aboard my ship so we can discuss our next course of action in person, but I expect her to be with you on whatever shuttle you take over here. I think it's only fair that I get to meet Rebecca finally."

It was Lyrenne's turn to narrow her eyes, but nevertheless, she relented, "Fine. Don't expect her to be overly excited in meeting you, though. I'll see you in about a couple hours."

And with that, the connection was cut. The monitor screen went black. Cole leaned back in his chair and sighed. Today was going to be a long and exhausting day, and it wasn't even half over, yet. Well, at least one good thing was going to come out of it.

He would finally get to meet his daughter.

* * *

 _ **2 Hours Later  
In orbit of Planet's Moon  
UNSC Everest  
Bridge**_

The combined UNSC/URF battlegroup moved closer to the planet, now called Shinsei, as they entered the orbit of the moon, Shirudo. The Frigates lead the way in a wedge-like formation, while the Everest tailed behind them. Further back, the Parabolas and the Springhill mining ship hung further back, with some 12 Longsword Fighters flying around them as protection.

* * *

Vice Admiral Cole continued to observe the battlegroup through the holo-pad. He glanced over to his left and spoke, "Julius. What's the status of our ODST recon element?"

To his left, an AI hologram appeared, taking on the appearance of Roman Emperor Julius Caesar. "They're ready to depart now, Admiral. They're merely awaiting your command to depart." Julius spoke, in a very formal voice.

"Good. Tell them they have a green light to depart."

"Yes, sir. They're boarding the Pelicans now. They should be departing Everest in roughly 1 minute. Also, sir, Rear Admiral Castilla's Pelican has arrived in hangar 2-A4. I have a Platoon of Marines waiting to meet her and a squad to escort her to the bridge."

"Good, notify me when they get up here." Cole finished. Julius' hologram flickered out of existence as the AI went about its tasks. The holo-pad then showed 10 icons, identified as Pelican dropships, exiting and moving away from the Everest. They moved about until they got in a loose formation and proceeded down towards the planet below.

Now, he just had to wait for them to reach ground-side.

"What is the status of the crew?" He asked one of the technicians next to him.

"Roughly 55% of the crew have been awaken from cryo-sleep, and are getting ready, sir. As for the three Spartan IIs, we've yet to awake them, per your orders, sir."

"Alright. Have everyone on board go to a combat alert status and prepare for a possible mass deployment. I want that Island lockdown and secured before the day is over."

The young man saluted and went to complete his task. Cole looked back at the holo-pad, watching the slow and steady progress of the Pelicans as they descended to the planet below. He just hoped he wasn't going to come to regret this decision to go along with Castilla's plan.

First Contacts never do go according to plan.

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile...  
Shinsei Atmosphere  
Pelican Gamma-12  
Combat Team Tombstone, 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company, 75th ODST Battalion**_

The roar of the dropship's engines thundered and reverberated throughout the troop bay, as the 22 man Combat Team checked and double checked all of their gear. Most of them were veterans, with years of experience fighting the Covenant. They had all seen several worlds fall to the Covenant's genocidal campaign over the years and had become hardened by this long and bitter conflict.

Corporal Oliver Rhineford, however, wasn't like his fellow ODST.

He was a relatively new member to the group, having only been with the unit for the past two years. He was a rather young man, 22 years old. 6'1", 175 pounds, he was about average height for a human. He had dark brown hair and soft, blue eyes. He was a religious man, raised in a Catholic family and had a Catholic Cross on his dogtags, however, 3 years in the military had dampened his religious views, somewhat.

And now he was in charge of a Fireteam for the first time. The 4-man Fireteam Whiskey.

"Ok, Marines. 2 minutes till we hit the ground! Everyone remembers their orders?" His C/O, Staff Sergeant William 'Bill' Jackson, spoke up to everyone in the dropship. Silent nods confirmed that everyone knew what they were suppose to do. Their mission was to explore an island for possible colonization by the fleet above. The one their company was going to was an island off the southern coast of some peninsula on the main continent's northeastern part.

* * *

It was roughly 121 miles long and about 38 miles at its widest point. There was a large mountain in the northeast surrounded by flat lands filled with forest and grasslands to the south and southwest. Ideal for an upstart colony. The problem? Command wanted to make sure no one else had already staked a claim on it before they did, hence why they were sending ODST down to explore the area.

The only things of notable entry were three villages and a small port town that looked like they had been burnt down and abandoned long ago. There was no sign that anyone was living on this island anywhere.

With any luck, this would be a mostly uneventful mission. Many of the ODST were already having trouble accepting the fact that they were working with Insurrectionists now. Now there was supposedly a whole other group of humans that lived here.

* * *

 _'30 seconds, guys. Lock and load.'_ The pilot spoke over the intercoms. Rhineford loaded his M392 DMR and MA5C, before putting on his helmet. His visor almost immediately polarized, as did the rest of the ODST Marines. The ramp opened up and lowered, exposing them to the outside world below.

Staff Sergeant Jackson looked down to the small clearing below that was surrounded by incredibly dense forest. There was no way a Warthog was going to traverse through this. It was moments like this he wish they had a Scorpion Tank. Nevertheless, they were going to be hiking it on foot for a while. The Pelican reached the ground and hovered there.

 _'Touchdown. Good hunting, Marines.'_ The pilot spoke once more. Jackson looked back to his Combat Team and shouted, "Okay, Marines. Go! Go! Go!"

With that, he jumped out and the rest of the ODST filed out of the Dropship, out into the new, unknown lands. The ODST spread out and dispersed, putting as much distance in between their individual selves as possible, incase someone had an explosive device aimed at them. This was years of combat experience fighting an alien hegemony equipped with advanced weapons being put to use. The Pelican immediately began to ascend once the last Marine was out of the Dropship.

The Marines went about setting up a perimeter, going prone to ensure they made themselves the smallest possible targets. They waited for the Dropship to ascend high into the air, before they slowly shifted themselves to a crouched position.

 _'Tombstone, Gamma-12. We'll provide air support if and when you need it.'_

"Copy, Gamma. Contact Command and see if we can get some Warthogs down here." SSgt Jackson replied. While he didn't mind hiking it for a while, some armed transport would make things go quicker once they were out in the open.

 _'Roger, Tombstone. We'll see what we can do. Gamma-12, out.'_ And with that, the Pelican lifted up into the air and disappeared in the clouds above.

"Okay, Marines. You know what to do. Split up into your separate Fireteams and move out." SSgt Jackson motioned for his Fireteam to form up, as did the other Fireteam Leaders. Once they had linked up, they split off from the other Fireteams and went their separate ways.

The exploration of the island had begun.

* * *

 _ **30 minutes later...**_

Rhineford moved through the brush of the forest, along with the other 3 members of his Fireteam in a wedge formation.

His grenadier, Lance Corporal Robert Parker, was on point to his upper left, methodically sweeping his MA5C back and forth, scanning for targets. His MA5C had the Assault Rifle's standard flashlight attachment swapped out for an M322 40mm under-barrel grenade launcher.

To Corporal Rhineford's right was the Squad's Automatic Weapon, PFC Simon Peltier, covering the right flank of the Fireteam, but ready to lay down suppressive fire with his M739 SAW in any direction if needed.

The extra Rifleman, and medic, of the group, PFC Lydia Armstrong, was on the lower left side of Parker, scanning the left flank with her MA5C.

The Fireteam continued forward through the forest, keeping an eye on their surroundings. The last thing they wanted was to get caught in an ambush. For most of them, this was a mindset developed from years of fighting the Covenant. But with any luck, those days were behind them.

One thing Oliver noticed was just how large and how thick the trees were. The tree tops were so thick and bushy they blocked out a significant amount of sunlight. It looked like it was dawn or something if he didn't know any better.

* * *

"We should be coming up on a clearing. Has Everest launched any UAVs yet?" Parker spoke up as the Fireteam rounded a trio of massive trees intertwined with one another.

"Yeah, but none are close enough to our position to be any help. Closest one's about 10 minutes out." Rhineford replied, doing a sweep with his DMR before continuing forward.

"Tch, figures. Flyboys are never nearby when you need them." Peltier retorted. The Frenchman wasn't in a good mood this morning. Cryo-sleep never did suit him well.

"I see the clearing, tree line about 80 meters ahead." Parker spoke up once more. The 4-man Fireteam trained their weapons forward as they approached the clearing. The sunlight shined so brightly through they couldn't see outside of the darken forest. It also meant that anyone looking into the darkened forest couldn't really see that well unless they were near the edge of the forest. A double-edge sword, in Parker's opinion.

However, the clearing they were heading to was also where they needed to go, if they want to acquire the Warthogs they needed for faster movement across this damn island.

"50 more meters to the clearing." Parker spoke once more. Suddenly, the very edge of his motion tracker picked up movement, if only for the briefest of seconds. Parker had just narrowly noticed it and stopped. The others noticed Parker's sudden halt and halted as well, looking towards the Lance Corporal.

"What is it?" Armstrong was the first to speak.

"Saw something on my motion tracker, on the edge of it. It was only for a second, but whatever it was it's directly ahead of us." Parker replied, never looking away from the front of them, slowly raising his MA5C up until it pointed forward as he talked. While it was very unlikely to be the Covenant, that didn't mean the ODST weren't put on edge.

They were taught to always expect the unexpected.

"Where's the nearest friendly unit?" Peltier asked. He went to a crouch and aimed his SAW to cover the Fireteam's right flank.

"Fireteam Kilo. SSgt Jackson's team. They're roughly 600 meters East of our position."

"Shit. Then we need to investigate and find out what that was." Parker replied as he started to slowly walk forward.

"Whoa, whoa, now." Rhineford stopped him, putting an arm on the man's shoulder. "This doesn't necessarily mean anything. Could of been just a deer for all we know." He understood the man's uneasiness, but there was no Covenant here, no enemy to fight here. Therefore there was no need to go the typical Gung-ho that the military usually does when they hear an unusual noise. At least, in his mind was what he thought.

Plus, the scans done hours earlier showed that the island wasn't inhabited by anybody, so there was no need to go into a full fledge panic.

"Doesn't mean we shouldn't at least confirm that." Parker retorted. "I'd rather be safe than getting fucked over in an ambush later on."

"I understand that but-"

Rhineford's reply was cut short when they heard something they shouldn't have been hearing. People conversing. Talking.

"Down, now!" Rhineford immediately whispered loudly. All four soldiers dropped to a prone position instantly. They laid there listening to the conversation. Granted, they couldn't understand a word being said, they listened in anyway so they could figure out just how far away the conversing parties were. The last thing they wanted was to be discovered, especially considering they had no idea what they were up against.

* * *

Rhineford turned his head to Armstrong, who had the best ears out of the group, "Lydia?"

"I'd say they're roughly 30-40 meters out, just outside our motion tracker's range. I don't know how many there are, though." She replied, listening in to the best of her abilities while keeping her MA5C at the ready. The conversation continued on, and from the sound of it, the people conversing didn't have a care in the world judging from the volume of the talking.

"Okay, move forward slowly and keep. Eyes. Open." Rhineford commanded, as he took lead in their slow but deliberate crawl towards whoever the hell was near them. Who or what were they about to stumble upon?

He had saw the video showing that there were in fact other humans living on this planet, but he still had trouble believing it. Many of the Marines, himself included, had watched the videos several times, trying to find anything that would make them inhuman. Scales, a tail, anything to dehumanize them. They had been fighting inhuman monsters for so long, it was hard for many of the, to accept the idea of other human beings existing in the galaxy.

Regardless, they were about to find out firsthand.

* * *

 _ **Hidden Sky/Hidden Mist Rendezvous Point**_

Kiyabu Hideo was having a good day today. Why? Because today was going to be the start of the Hidden Sky Village returning to the empire that they once had.

* * *

Kiyabu Hideo was a 27 year old from the Hidden Sky Village. Standing roughly 5'11 and weighing in at about 160 pounds, he was a lean, but strong individual. He had short, dark brown hair and dark green eyes, which had a light red streak going over each eye. He had a scar on the right corner of his mouth that ran from the bottom of his nose to his chin. He had a Ninjato holstered on his left hip.

Rated an A-Ranked Shinobi in the Bingo Book, he forged his reputation as a skilled and competent leader within the ranks of the Sky Village Shinobi, leading him to earn the rank of Jonin within just 3 years from graduating from the academy, a feat unheard of in the Eastern Elemental Nations. That being said, that didn't meant he didn't have his flaws. If someone had severely wronged him, he would hold it against them. He wasn't the type to forgive. Especially the person who gave him his scar.

* * *

After the disastrous 2nd Great Shinobi War, their nation was a shadow of its former self. Its former territory now fractured into numerous new countries. such as the Land of Birds, Wolf, and Honey. Not only that, but their Easternmost territories were taken by those wretched Hidden Swamp Shinobi, from the Land of Swamps, in their weakened state.

But that was going to change quickly. They were going to return to their days of being a mighty and feared world power. They had already reconquered the Land of Birds, and now they were on track to retake their eastern lands from the Hidden Swamp Village. And this would be their first step.

His team, which comprised of 5 other Hidden Sky Shinobi, was being backed up by another 30 Hidden Sky Shinobi nearby at a small base they had set up, due to the importance of their mission. All they were waiting on was the team of Hidden Mist Shinobi to show up with their bounty. Frankly, the Hidden Mist Shinobi had wanted to arrange the meeting point to be somewhere in the Land of Wolf, but his Sukaikage didn't trust the people of those lands, and had decided to have the rendezvous here, in the former territory of the Land of Whirlpool.

* * *

While still a very fertile and lush island, nobody had come to claim the land as their own since the destruction of the Hidden Whirlpool Village, and with the political landscape of the lands, that was unlikely to change for a long time. He honestly was surprised that the Land of Fire hadn't tried to annex the island since it fell. Regardless, it made a perfect place to arrange a meet up. There wouldn't be any interferences, save for maybe a marauding band of pirates or bandits passing through. Now all they had to do was wait for the Hidden Mist to show up.

* * *

"Where the hell are they? I figured they would have beaten us here to this damn island." One of Hideo's teammates, a large, imposing man whose black hair was hidden under a doo-rag, spoke up while propping himself against a tree.

"Pft, you would complain about having to wait, Kotaro. All it means is that we get to sit back relax while they drag their asses along to get here. Better here than someplace like the damn desert." Another teammate, a dark blue-haired woman, replied, glancing her light brown eyes at her teammate in annoyance. She was leaned up against a tree as well while she inspected her kunai.

"Fuck off, Naoko. If I wanted a comeback, I'd wipe it off your chin." Kotaro grinned, earning a grunt of disgust from the woman.

"Knock it off, both of you." Hideo finally spoke up, giving Kotaro a glare, receiving a chickle in response. He was getting tired of their constant bickering, "They'll show up when they show up. With the amount of money we're offering them, they're not gonna risk being no shows over one woman. Hell, they need every bit of help they get with that civil war they're dealing with." He chuckled. He could care less about the Hidden Mist's Civil War. If they wanted to go and wipe out all their shinobi with bloodlines, let them. Just means they'll be weaker in the long run.

"Our internal affairs are none of your concern, Sky Village."

Finally, the Hidden Mist team had arrived. 2 Hidden Mist Shinobi leaped in front of them, with one of them carrying a bound up, unconscious woman on their shoulder, her head covered in a bag. Their target and purpose of this entire mission.

"I guess she put up more of a fight than anticipated?" Hideo teased, motioning towards the unconscious person now being tossed to the ground.

"More so than her useless teammates, but the results were the same." The lead Hidden Mist Shinobi, Fumio, spoke as he crossed his arms. His black eyes were the only visible features of his face, the rest being covered in a grey mask.

Hideo smirked, as he walked over to the unconscious woman, who was slowly starting to stir awake. Kneeling down, he took off the bag covering her head.

* * *

Removing the bag reveal a woman, 22, with long orange hair that went slightly past her shoulders. She had brown eyes, with a dark blue triangle marking under each eye, signifying her being a member of a certain clan. She had a well built and beautiful figure, one that made her the envy of a lot of women. Her name was Takashima Satomi, the daughter of the 2nd, and current, Numakage of the Hidden Swamp Village.

And the very same woman who, along with her village, had been a massive thorn in the Sky Village's side for several years.

* * *

Satomi groaned softly after being just blatantly dropped, the large bruise on the side of her head evidence of just how bad of shape she was in at the moment. Dried blood caked the side of her head as well, along with a few splotches on her clothing. Even if the Hidden Mist Shinobi wouldn't want to admit it, she had put up quite a fight, a far better one than they had expected from one of the Eastern Shinobi Nations. That alone, had cost them two shinobi by her hands.

Nevertheless, the target had been captured. All that was left to do was to collect their paycheck and return with the bounty.

* * *

"Wasn't there supposed to be 8 of you?" Naoko suddenly spoke up, curious as to why there was only two of them.

The Mist Shinobi that hadn't been carry the woman turned to her, "The others are nearby, close enough to respond if you Sky Shinobi decided to try something stupid, which I highly recommend you don't."

Hideo rolled his eyes, not wanting to stay here any longer than necessary, "We're not." he sighed, "You kept up your end of the bargain. Now, we keep up ours." He looked over to Kotaro and motioned for him to pull out the money. Kotaro walked over to one of his fellow Sky Shinobi, who had pulled out a sealing scroll. Taking the scroll from the Shinobi, he walked back over and raised his hand out to give it to the Mist Shinobi. The lead Mist Shinobi suddenly stopped him with a raise of the hand.

"Open it." He commanded. Obviously, the Hidden Mist weren't very trusting of the Sky Village.

A wise mindset.

Kotaro set the scroll on the ground and unrolled it. He placed his hand on the scroll and channeled chakra through the scroll, releasing the contents inside. With a puff of smoke, the scroll spilled out 3 large chest, each opened up to show some 25,000,000 ryo of coin and cash combined. The revelation of the money inside the scroll seemed to ease the Hidden Mist Shinobi's suspicion.

While Kotaro and a couple Sky Shinobi went about putting all of the money back into the scroll, the Mist Shinobi walked over to Hideo and spoke up, "Well, since you've kept your words, then our business is concluded. We'll take our leave now."

"Good." Hideo replied with a smile, satisfied with how the events were turning out, "Then we'll be on our way as well."

The Hidden Mist Shinobi said nothing more as they both shunshined away.

* * *

 _ **Fireteam Whiskey**_

"What... the fuck?" Was all Parker could manage out after watching the two men... basically disappeared into thin air.

"How the hell did they do that?" Peltier whispered, glancing at his squadmates before looking back down to the group of humans before them. All they did was make some random signs with their hands and then suddenly, like magic, they just... up and vanished. They had never seen anything like that before. The active camouflage of the Elites didn't even work like this.

"Tombstone-Actual, you saw that on the video feed, confirm, over?" Rhineford questioned, after opening a channel and live video-feed to his CO to show them their discovery.

 _'Uhh... R-roger that, Whiskey-Lead, we saw it. Standby while we relay info to Kingpin-Actual and Everest-Command, out.'_ Ssgt Jackson replied over the comms. The Fireteam held position while they waited for word from either the Everest, Colonel Barnes. Everyone of them had dozens of questions flowing through their heads while they waited, wondering about these new and strange people they've encountered.

"Sooo... is anyone else's 'What the Fuck' detector going off right now?" Armstrong spoke up as she scanned her surroundings with her MA5C.

"Yeah, I'm sure everybody's is. What the hell did those people use, magic?" Parker piped in, shrugging his shoulders as he spoke.

"I don't know. I saw one of them pull out what looked like an scroll, like freaking Romans would use or something, rolled it out on the ground." Rhineford spoke.

"Yeah, I saw that, too. Then the guy holding it put his hand on or something, then suddenly there were three fucking chests that spring outta nowhere! How the hell did they do that?" Parker replied, replaying the event in his mind as he glanced up at the open field ahead before going back to scanning his surroundings.

"Yeah, I know. It was crazy-" Peltier was cut off when their comms came to life.

 _'Whiskey-Lead, this is Kingpin-Actual, over.'_ Colonel Barnes' voice came over the comms.

 _'This is Whiskey-Lead, we read you. Go ahead, over.'_

 _'Whiskey-Lead, Everest is dispatching all 12 of her F-99 Drones, I'm having one redirected to support you personally. Your new mission is to track down this group and figure out where they're based at. However, you are not to engage in any interaction whatsoever, simple reconnaissance mission, over.'_

Fireteam Whiskey looked at one another, before Rhinford replied, _'Roger that, Kingpin._ _We'll do what we can to track them down, over.'_

 _'Roger that, Whiskey-Lead. Good hunting. Kingpin-Actual, out.'_

"Great, now they want us to go looking for these guys." Peltier groaned, standing up as he stretched his lower body out.

"Look at the bright side, Simon," Armstrong teased, "At least we got that Air Support you were whining about."

"Ha. Ha." Peltier flicked her off. Rhineford and the rest of Fireteam Whiskey stood up and started to walk towards the clearing. "Okay, let's see if the Wombat can help locate our missing friends." Rhineford spoke, as he opened up his tact-pad on his arm and opened a connection to the nearest F-99 Wombat. The tact-pad's screen changed to the bird's-eye view that the Wombat provided as it flew over the island.

* * *

Rhineford connected with the Wombat's 'Bee-net', and his headcam screen changed to a birds-eye view of the island. Friendly units were highlighted by green boxes. Once he was linked with the one flying over his fireteam's position, he had the drone scan the surrounding area for other people. If it did, since it's not known if their hostile or not, they'll be marked with an orange box around them.

* * *

"See anything?" Peltier questioned.

"No, not yet. If they're still here, which I'm sure they are, the drone'll find 'em, though." Rhineford replied, as he continued viewing from the drone's perspective.

 _'Fireteam Whiskey, this is Fireteam Gamma, over.'_ The radio suddenly came to life.

 _'Fireteam Gamma, go ahead, over.'_ Rhineford replied.

 _'Fireteam Whiskey, we've got eyes on your boogeymen. We're currently about 1 Klick North-Northeast your position. We're shadowing a group matching the description about 100 meters ahead of us, over.'_

Fireteam Whiskey looked at one another. These guys were already a Kilometer away in roughly 3 minutes? That was something only Spartans would have been capable of doing right there. They had their work cut out for them.

"Okay guys, I guess we better start hiking over to catch up." Rhineford spoke to the team as they stood up and started walking in the direction of Fireteam Gamma's location. Rhineford replied on the comms, _'Roger, Gamma. We're moving to your position now, over.'_

 _'Roger that, Whiskey. Fireteam Gamma, out.'_

"Okay, let's pick up the pace a little, Marines." Parker spoke up as they all began to jog towards their destination.

* * *

 _ **UNSC Everest  
**_ _ **Bridge**_

The two Admirals looked at one another, from across the bridge, in silence for what seemed like an eternity, neither one moving a muscle. Vice Admiral Cole took in every feature he saw on Lyrenne's figure. Her stainless white BDU, typical of a naval officer. Her soft, blue eyes staring straight at him. Even if he was mad at her for everything that's happened, he couldn't help but admit he had miss her dearly.

Lyrenne smirked, "It's been a long time, huh, Preston?"

"Yes... it has." He slowly walked over to her, a soft and small smile gracing his lips. As he got closer, he stopped when another woman walked into the room, considerably younger than the two of them.

"Mom, what's-" She stopped when she saw Cole. The look on her face turned to a slight scowl as she sized up the Vice Admiral. With a soft 'hmph', she spoke, "I honestly thought you'd be a little taller. Less wrinkly, too." The young woman was roughly 5'8", maybe 120 pounds, and 28 years old, physically. With short black hair and teal-colored eyes adorning her face. She had a modestly curvy figure, though most of it wasn't visible with the black BDU she had on. On her nameplate, the name 'Cole' was visible.

Cole hadn't noticed it at first, though, and with narrowed eyes, he asked, "And... who are you, miss?"

"Really, Preston? After all that fuss you made about wanting to meet her?" Lyrenne replied, causing Cole's eyes to widen in surprise and take a glance at the nameplate. She walked over to the young woman and spoke, "Preston Cole. I would like you to meet your daughter. Captain Rebecca Alexander Cole." she finished introducing, while Rebecca simple crossed her arms and stared at her father.

"Captain? You let her in your navy?" Cole asked.

"Yeah, since Navy pretty much runs in the family, I figured why not. Besides, who do you think it was that save your sorry ass at Psi Serpentis?" Rebecca retorted, as she glanced around the room.

Cole's eyes immediately glared at Lyrenne, "You let her engage a Covenant Fleet?!" he growled out. Leading a ship was fine, but the last thing he wanted was any of his children having to fight in the war against the Covenant. Lyrenne was about to respond, but Rebecca beat her to it.

"I'm not a child, Preston. I can make my own choices. Besides, I've been a Captain for years, now." Rebecca retorted, glaring at him.

"That doesn't mean you needs to be involved with fighting the Covenant in any shape or form!"

"Enough!" Lyrenne suddenly shouted, catching both of their attention. She continued, "Right now, the last thing we need is to be arguing with one another. We need to focus on making sure everyone else will get along with one another. That, and making sure we don't screw up this colonization. We've got one chance to do this right, or we could have an entire planet rising up against us. The last thing we need is another hostile First Contact. Let's focus on all of that first, then we'll go back to resolving our family problems. Preferably in a more private setting."

Cole looked around the room and noticed that several bridge crew were glancing at the arguing trio, but quickly turned their heads back to their consoles and platforms when they noticed Cole looking around. Cole sighed, "Agreed. I just hope that you know what you're doing, Lyrenne."

Lyrenne glanced at her former husband, "So do I. We don't exactly have a solid record in first contact scenarios." she joked, though no one laughed.

The irony of the joke, however, wasn't lost to anyone listening on the bridge.

* * *

 _ **Fireteam Whiskey/Gamma  
**_ _ **50 meters outside perimeter of Unknown Camp**_

Fireteams Whiskey and Gamma both crawled up behind several fallen logs, looking out towards the small encampment before them. From what Rhineford could see, there were maybe 30 to 40 people either inside or patrolling the perimeter some 10 meters out. Some were gathered around having drinks, while others were sparring or moving a couple boxes from one tent to another out of the roughly two dozen that were set up.

"How the hell did we miss all these assholes? Probes should have picked them up earlier on their sensors, shouldn't they?" Parker whispered, leaning over to Rhineford. Despite their helmets being capable of muffling their voices, that didn't mean they were foolproof.

"You saw how thick those woods were. They could easily hide somebody. Plus, with the probes so high up, even with thermals, they could have easily overlooked them due to the larger villages and cities on the planet." Rhineford replied. Parker thought about it. It made sense. Plus this wouldn't have been the first time something like this had happened, were scout probes had overlooked something.

"Regardless, we need to radio it in so the rest of our boys are aware." Fireteam Gamma's leader, Corporal York, pipped in.

Nodding in agreement, Rhineford spoke into his headset, _'Kingpin-Actual, this is Fireteam Whiskey, over.'_

 _'Roger, Whiskey-Lead. We read you, over.'_

 _'Kingpin-Actual, we have linked up with Fireteam Gamma and have located the local's encampment. We're looking at what looks to be about 30 to 40 something individuals in the camp, over.'_

 _'Roger, that. Whiskey-Lead, are they doing anything in particular? Do they appear to be on alert or such, over?'_

 _'Kingpin-Actual, aside from the patrols they've got going on around the perimeter, that's a negative, over.'_

 _'Roger that. Whiskey-Lead, your orders are as follow. You will proceed with recon of local inhabitants, gather more intel on them for the eggheads upstairs. Do not, I repeat, do not interact with them in any way what-so-ever. This is strictly a recon op, not a first contact, over.'_

 _'Roger that, Kingpin-Actual. Be advised, however, it does appear they do have what appears to be a prisoner of sorts, over.'_

 _'Understood, Whiskey-Lead, but your orders stand. No interaction. Kingpin-Actual, out.'_

And with that, the radio went silent and the two ODST Fireteams looked at one another, before looking back at the encampment. They noticed one rather large man walking into one of the tents, while the circle of people he had been drinking with were cheering him on. "Well, fuck. Who woulda thought there were other humans in the galaxy. Huh, go figure right?" Simon spoke up, trying to lighten the mood of everyone.

"Yeah, let's just hope that when we do finally introduce ourselves, it doesn't go as bad as it did with the Covenant." Lydia replied.

Parker and three of Fireteam Gamma's soldiers replied with, "Yeah." and "Amen." Rhineford, however, just continued to watch the camp the camp inhabitants went on with their day, oblivious to the 8 soldiers hiding in the bush 50 meters from their camp.

* * *

 _ **Hidden Sky Shinobi Encampment  
**_ _ **Hideo's Tent**_

Hideo Kiyabu leaned back into his sleeping bag as he reminisced about today's events. Everything had gone completely according to plan. And that was left now was to return home, and they would be back on track to becoming the large and feared Empire they once were. Then, they could get back and have vengeance on everyone who put them in this state to begin with.

"Ryu for your thoughts, Hideo-kun." came Naoko's voice as she entered his tent.

He smiled, "Just happy everything went off without a hitch, today."

Naoko walked over and sat down next to Hideo, leaning on him as she got comfortable. Outside, several of the other Sky Shinobi could be heard celebrating the success of the mission. All that was left now was to go home with their prisoner.

"Well, we did it, huh?" Naoko asked as she curled up next to him.

"Yep. And with the Numakage's daughter in our custody, he'll have no choice but to submit to our demands. Otherwise, we'll start to dismember her one piece at a time." Hideo's relaxed, yet thrilled, reply came as he cupped hands behind his head, and closed his eyes.

"Are you sure he'll just roll over and submit to us?"

Hideo snorted, "Of course! After what happened to his wife, he's been overprotective about his daughter. Hell, some of our reports say she hasn't even been out of the Village for nearly a year. Tch, yeah. He'll submit, alright."

"What about our guys? They better not rough her up too bad. Especially Kotaro, knowing him." Naoko spoke as she nuzzled up to her team leader, her face adorned with a scowl as she thought about their scumbag of a teammate.

Hideo batted an eye open at her, "Don't tell me you're actually concerned for her, are you?"

"Hell, no!" She scoffed, "I just don't us getting in trouble with the Sukaikage because our guys decided to get too rough with her. I couldn't give two shits if they wanna fuck around with her, just don't go overboard with it."

"Damn. Talk about cold-hearted." Hideo chuckled.

Naoko rolled over on top of him, looking directly into his eyes with a seductive look on her face and a knowing smirk. She brought her face inches from his. "Well, how about you help me warm up, then?" She cooed, as they closed the distance and locked lips with one another for a soft kiss.

After a few seconds, they broke off the kiss, and stare silently at one another. Naoko, however, was the one to finally break the silence between the two.

"Hideo. How much longer are we going to pretend there's nothing going on between us?"

Hideo sighed, knowing this was coming, "Naoko..."

"Don't 'Naoko' me! We've been like this for over two years now. But, you still can't make up your mind. Do you actually want to be with me or am I just some trophy? It makes me wonder if you actually love me or not." Naoko growled at him, crossing her arms in agitation.

"You know I do, Naoko!" Hideo snapped.

* * *

They've been seeing each other for the better part of 2 years, now. It wasn't that Hideo didn't want to be with Naoko. Kami, she was everything he could ever want in a woman. The truth was he was just afraid to get too close to her. Why? Who could say. Maybe something to do with his childhood as far as he knew. Naoko, though, was probably one of the only things he cared about more than life itself, and he wouldn't dare imagine what would happen to her if he died on a mission. What would that do to her? Could he honestly be willing to put her through something like that?

No. He couldn't. He wouldn't dare to. Maybe further down the line when they were older and retired, but at this moment, he couldn't. Especially in the line of work they do, where death could be right around the corner.

* * *

"Then what is it, then?! Are you afraid to admit it or something?"

"I just..." Hideo sighed, trying to compose himself, "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to me and it ended up hurting you in the end. What if I died or something? Where would that leave you?"

"Hideo..." Naoko spoke softly, looking at him with a hurt look in her eyes. Hideo looked back at her, waiting for a response.

Suddenly, Naoko bonked him on the head rather hard, earning a yelp of pain out of the Sky Village Jounin. "Baka! You'd already be putting me through it if something happen to you. I think we're well past that point now!" She growled out, glaring at him with annoyance, while Hideo meeky rubbed the new bump on his head.

"We're Shinobi, right? Death is an everyday risk we take. It's part of our job. Instead of sitting being paranoid, make the most of what you have and appreciate what Kami blessed you with." She wrapped her arms around his neck, "Life's too short. Enjoy it." She finished as she planted a soft kiss on Hideo's cheek, before nuzzling her head into his neck.

Hideo thought long and hard about her words. He knew she was right. Life was too short to worry. Make the most of it, instead of fearing over the possible. He knew it would be a long and painful process for him to overcome, but he could at least give it a shot. When they got back to the village, he decided he'd take her out for some dinner. She deserves that much, at least. He was lucky to have someone as faithful as she was, and he knew it.

Leaning his head back with a smile, he wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, and dozed off to the sound of her soft breathing.

* * *

 **Hidden Sky Shinobi Encampment  
** **Outside Tents**

Takashima Satomi was tossed unceremoniously as she hit the ground hard, which only made the bruises and injuries she's sustained beforehand hurt even more. With a pained gasp, she looked up at the laughing and jeering crowd that had gathered around her.

To put it bluntly, she was in bad condition. Her forest green shinobi outfit was torn and tattered. She had cuts and bruises all over her body. Dried blood was all over her body and in her hair. She had ended up this way from her team being ambushed by 2 teams of Hidden Mist Shinobi. Unfortunately for her, they were all A and B-rank Shinobi, quickly cutting down her team. Though she had been able to kill a couple of them, they had still bested her and subdued her.

"HA! Fucking swamp whore!"

"Show you to mess with Sky Village Shinobi!"

"Let's shave her head!"

"No, better yet! Take all of her clothing off and parade her around!"

The chants and jeers of the surrounding Sky Village Ninja echoed all around her. It wasn't helping her raging headache in any way. Though, that was more than likely a concussion she was feeling. She'd want nothing more than to escape at the moment, but her chakra reserves were depleted, and even if it weren't, it was sealed off with chakra binds on her hands, which were bound behind her back. She wasn't going anywhere from them anytime soon. Satomi was completely at their mercy.

And they knew it.

* * *

A kick to the gut earned a small gasp of pain out her, as a large and imposing man towered over her, twirling her Village Headband in his fingers. With a lecherous grin, he spoke, "Not so tough now. Huh, Lightning Queen?" he mocked. All she could do was glare at him as he kneeled down, looking her dead in the eyes.

Raising an eyebrow, Kotaro questioned, "Hey, now. Don't take this personally." Closing his eyes and shrugging his shoulders, "I mean, to be fair, you did kinda bring this upon yourself." He chuckled.

"Fu... Fuck... you." Satomi breathed out. Kotaro grunted in amusement and tossed her headband aside.

Grinning even wider, he grabbed her by the collar of her outfit, bringing her up to eye level. Looking over her figure and grinning, he warned, "Careful, you're not really in a position to talk big."

Suddenly, Satomi spat a wad of bloody spit onto his face, causing him to flinch back in surprise. Growling in anger, he punched her in the gut. Satomi gasped out and doubled over in pain. Kotaro flung her to the ground as he wiped the spit off.

"Now that..." He growled threateningly, "Is gonna cost you."

He took out a kunai and slashed at the front of her uniform, revealing her fairly large bust to the crowd. Satomi gasped as lots of whooping and whistling from the Sky Shinobi followed. One of the Sky Village Shinobi, however, walked up. "Kotaro, what are you doing?"

"Don't worry. I'm not gonna kill her." Kotaro replied, looking back at the man with a devilish grin, "That being said, that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun with her. I figured the least she could do was give us a little show before we head back." he laughed, as he looked back and cut away at her shorts, tearing them away and revealing her nether regions.

Looking back at the crowd, Kotaro shouted, "Whadda say, boys?! Let's have ourselves a little fun with our guest! Who wants first dibs on some Swamp Village pussy?!" Roars and whistles of approval echoed amongst the Sky Shinobi and Kunoichi. Kotaro laughed as he watched Satomi's face go from one of pure anger to one of mortified shock. As a couple Sky Shinobi walked past him towards their captive, Kotaro simply stood back and watched the show before him play out.

While he normally would be the first in line to try out a captive Kunoichi, this Kunoichi in particular was one he wanted to watch suffer first, then he'd have his fun with her. This Swamp Village bitch has killed some 30 of the Sky Village's Ninja in her career, including his brother.

He was going to get his revenge soon enough. First, though, he'd let his teammates try her out first.

* * *

 _ **Fireteam Whiskey/Gamma's Position**_

"Man, how the hell is she still conscious?" One of the Fireteam Gamma squad members spoke, as the two ODST Fireteam watched the events unfold within the encampment. They were all disgusted with what these people were doing to the poor captive woman on the ground. Just from the look of her battered outfit, they all could tell that she had been through alot.

Rhineford in particular was disgusted with what he was seeing. His conscious was wanting nothing more than to go in there and stop this. But they had explicit orders not to interact. All they could do was sit there and wait.

"So any ideas who these guys might be?" Peltier questioned.

"Maybe they're a group of pirates or bandits. A large and isolated place like this would be a good hideout for such." Armstrong replied.

"They might be a part of a military branch if those headbands mean anything." Parker piped in.

"Nah, they all gotta piece of metal over 'em. They look more like just some kinda forehead protector." Fireteam Gamma's team leader spoke as well, as he readjusted his stance behind the tree.

"No, no. Take a closer look at it. You'll notice something about the headbands." Parker replied, to which the Gamma Fireteam Leader raised his Battle Rifle and looked through the scope at one of the locals.

He noticed that the metal on the headband had some kind of emblem or symbol on it. He looked at another one of the locals, and sure enough, she had the same symbol on her headband. He looked at a couple more to confirm, and their headbands were showing the same symbol as well.

"He's right. Their headbands all have the same emblem on them." Rhineford, having done the same thing through his DMR scope, spoke up, looking over at Parker.

"Exactly. And I noticed that their prisoner had a different emblem on her headband. That's got me thinking that maybe these are two different militaries or factions that are at war with one another." Parker continued.

"So what about the guys from before? The ones that brought that captive here?" Armstrong questioned as she looked over to her Teammates.

"I dunno. I didn't get a good look at their headba-"

"Hey, what's this guy doing?" One of Fireteam Gamma's soldiers suddenly questioned. Fireteam Whiskey all looked away from one another back towards the encampment to see a large, muscular man grabbing the captive woman by the collar of her outfit, bringing her face to face to him. They were too far away to hear what was said by the man, but they saw the captive spit on his face, which earned her a strong punch to the gut.

"Oh, honey, that was not smart." Gamma Fireteam's leader muttered.

The large man proceeded to pull out what looked like a knife and cut away at her shirt, exposing her breast to the crowd of men and women in the encampment. Cheers and whistles of approval followed.

The man continued to tear away at her clothing, until her clothing was too tattered to decently cover her now mostly nude body from the lecherous crowd. The woman tried to cover herself as best as she could, but was largely unable to due to her hands being bound behind her back. A couple of the men walked towards the nude captive, as she attempted to back away from them.

* * *

"No..."

"What the fuck, man?"

"Are we seriously just gonna stand by and watch this?" Rhineford stated, disgusted with what he was seeing. The 2 ODST Fireteams were all disgusted with what they were seeing. Even so, their orders were still clear.

"We don't have a choice-" Parker started, but Rhineford cut him off.

"The fuck do you mean we don't have a choice?! Of course we having a goddamn choice. This isn't right and you know it."

"Regardless, Command ordered no interaction whatsoever. If they say something, they expect us to follow it to the letter." Parker retorted, leaning closer towards Rhineford.

"If that was Elizabeth out there, you wouldn't be saying that."

Rhineford received a punch to the helmet from Parker. To their luck, despite the rather loudness of the punch, the roving guards were too distracted by all of the commotion going on inside the encampment to hear it.

"Fuck. You." Was all that Parker growled out. Rhineford knew he had struck a nerve, but it didn't change the fact that Parker was right. Their orders were coming directly from High Command. They looked back to the encampment and saw a couple men groping and just outright molesting the poor woman, their hands feeling up and groping every part of her body as she struggle in their grip. The crowd around them was laughing and cheering them on as they continued to molest their captive.

Rhineford couldn't stand it anymore. He tapped into his headset and spoke, _'Kingpin-Actual, this is Fireteam Whiskey-Lead, over.'_

 _'... Whiskey-Lead, this is Kingpin-Actual. Go ahead, over.'_

 _'Kingpin-Actual, we've got a situation developing within the local encampment, over.'_

 _'Is it directly affecting your ability to remain hidden, over?'_

The eight soldiers looked at one another. Rhineford looked over to Armstrong, then to Parker, who simply shook his head and whispered, "Don't." to him.

Grunting in aggravation, mainly with Parker, _'Negative, Kingpin-Actual. We're still out of sight, over.'_

 _'Then your orders haven't changed, Whiskey-Lead. Over.'_

Rhineford didn't like that response. Despite Parker motioning him to drop the subject, Rhineford pressed the matter.

 _'Kingpin-Actual, we have a confirmed prisoner in the encampment being basically tortured and if this keeps up, the prisoners going to die.'_

 _'Whiskey-Lead, this is Everest-Command, over.'_

All Eight of the ODST Marines' blood ran cold when they heard _his_ voice. Now, they had Vice Admiral Preston Cole talking to them. This either meant they were in serious trouble, or that their leadership was taking this whole discovery of other humans far more seriously than previously thought.

 _'Fireteams Whiskey and Gamma, this is Vice Admiral Preston Cole. You're orders are coming directly from me. You will not interact with these locals under any circumstances, unless your lives are in danger or you are given explicit authorization to, over.'_

This had just escalated real quickly. Now, they were having a Vice Admiral giving them orders not to interact or interfere. But it didn't seem like Rhineford was going to let the subject go. Parker knew that either one of two things would happen. One, Rhineford would finally relent, which didn't seem likely, or two, they were all going to get in trouble because Rhineford's conscious didn't agree with the orders given.

While Parker actually liked the fact that Rhineford was a decent human being, wanting to help out his fellow man and doing the right thing, the problem was that Rhineford let his heart guide his actions too much at times. As a Marine, and a leader at that, making difficult decisions are a mainstay of the job, especially the ones that you don't want to do. Rhineford's particular mindset had gotten him in trouble with leadership in the past. And this was not one of those times that Rhineford needed to be arguing with leadership, especially when the person he was arguing with was a Vice Admiral.

"Rhineford, let it go!" Parker growled out.

 _'Sir, with all due respect-'_

 _'Whiskey-Lead, I understand that you do not agree with these orders, but we have no understanding of the current situation between the locals. As far as you and I know, that prisoner is a war criminal responsible for thousands of deaths. Henceforth, your order still stands, over.'_

 _'But, sir-'_

 _'Whiskey-Lead, you will follow your orders or you will be relieved of command and punished accordingly. Is that understood, over?.'_

Silence fell between them. None of the ODST spoke a word, nor did anyone else connected on the line. Everyone held their collective breaths, waiting for one person to break the silence. They could still see the locals tormenting and humiliating their captive, despite her yells of protest. Finally, after seconds that felt like minutes, someone broke the silence.

 _'Whiskey-Lead, this is Kingpin-Actual, over.'_

Rhineford flinched slightly, looking over to Parker, who simply glared at him, before responding, _'Kingpin-Actual, this is Whiskey-Lead. We read you, over.'_

 _'Whiskey-Lead, it's Corporal Oliver Rhineford, correct, over?'_

Rhineford took a shaky intake of breath. If Colonel Barnes was addressing you by name over the radio, it meant he was about to praise you, or he was about to tear you a new asshole. The other ODST Marines held their collective breaths once more as Rhineford replied.

 _'Y-yes, sir. It is, over.'_

 _'... Corporal Rhineford, I'm redirecting your personal connection to a private channel of mine. You and I are going to have a little talk, over.'_

If his blood could, Rhineford's would have frozen right then and there. This was bad, extremely bad. What the Colonel wanted to discuss with him privately, it couldn't possibly be good at this point.

With a soft and uncertain breath, he waited as the connection was moved over to the Colonel's private line.

* * *

 _ **UNSC Everest  
**_ ** _Bridge_**

"What the hell's he doing?" Cole questioned as he looked at the monitor screen showing the two different teams in question from a drone's camera, one showing Fireteams Whiskey and Gamma, the other showing Combat Team Kingpin, Colonel Barnes' command unit of the 212th ODST Regiment.

"Sir, I'm afraid I am unable to gain access into the channel. It appears Colonel Barnes' personal AI, Atlas, is denying my entrance." Julius remarked as his hologram changed colors, from blue to green and back.

Cole sighed, mentally cursing a certain AI, "Of course."

"Unbelievable. It's like the Jarheads are actually incapable of not shooting everything that moves." Rebecca commented, a scowl on her face as she crossed her arms.

"Rebecca..." Her mother growled out, looking sternly at her.

"How many troops do we have on the ground?" Cole questioned, stepping up towards the holopad, which showed a massive map of the island they were planning to colonize, with icons marking the locations of all their forces on the ground or in the air.

"Sir, all of the ODST have been deployed groundside. We're getting ready to deploy our contingency of Marines to the surface." A crewman replied, turning in his chair to face the Admiral.

Turning to his old flame, "Do any of your people plan on landing anytime soon?"

"Yes." Lyrenne replied, "I've already ordered some of our flyers to get ready to help set up a few firebases."

Cole arched an eyebrow, "No soldiers?"

Crossing her arms, Lyrenne replied, "I figured it wouldn't be a good idea for ODST and URF soldiers to mix just yet."

Cole stared at her for a few moments, before nodding, "Fair enough." He then turned back to the holopad, watching the movement of the troops on the ground as they continued to explore the island.

* * *

 _ **Fireteam Whiskey/Gamma's Location**_

Parker looked over at Rhineford as the Corporal continued his conversation with the Colonel. None of the other ODST could hear what was being said, as the Corporal's external speakers and headset had been silenced to anyone trying to listen in. Whatever it was they were speaking about, Rhineford wasn't arguing much. The Colonel must really be giving him an earful.

Rhineford's body and head moved slightly, a muffled sound could be heard from inside his helmet. But, suddenly his body straightened, the muffled sound silent. Rhineford stayed like this for several moments, not moving in the slightest. His head slowly raised up, looking straight at the encampment. More specifically, at the captive woman and her tormentors.

Parker, eying his teammate, leaned over slightly, "Rhineford. What's up? Everything ok?"

Rhineford looked down slightly, as if deep in thought about something. His grip on his DMR tightened considerably, before slowly loosening. Rhineford looked over to Parker, before speaking softly, "It's all good."

The way he said it, however, had Parker concerned. His eyes narrowed, "You sure? Colonel didn't berate you too bad, did he?"

"No. Not too bad."

"Okay." Parker sighed, leaning back against the tree and glancing towards the encampment. He looked back over to Rhineford, who had his gaze cast down towards the ground. Slightly worried about his friend, Parker decided to speak up.

"Hey." Rhineford glanced over to his friend. "Listen, I know that this is wrong, just sitting here and doing nothing. And you're right. If that was Elizabeth out there, I'd definitely be out there trying to save her. But, it isn't. And it doesn't change the fact Command's right on this. We don't know the whole story, and we don't know anything about the situation between these two factions. Sometimes, we gotta make tough decisions that we don't want to make. That's part of being a Marine. But we gotta make the choices that best benefit us. And right now, no matter how wrong it may be, the best one right now is to stand by and wait for further orders from Command."

Rhineford listened intently to him, making sure he finished before replying with a nod. "Right."

Satisfied that that particular problem had been resolved, Parker looked back towards the encampment again. The locals were now getting rougher, and more forceful, with their captive, as she struggled and yelled in their grip as they continued to grope and violate her body. Parker couldn't help but wince. The thought of something like that happening to Elizabeth made his blood boil, which was why he was thankful she chose to join the Navy instead.

"Do you guys trust me to lead?"

Parker had snapped out of his line of thinking and looked back to Rhineford. The two soldiers looked straight at one another, neither saying a word. Peltier, though, who had been silent for a while now listening to the others talk, broke the silence.

"What are you talking about?"

Rhineford glanced at him, "Do you all trust me? Trust my ability to make leadership decisions?"

The three other members of Fireteam Whiskey looked at one another, not sure where this exactly came from or where Rhineford was going with it.

Armstrong was the first to reply, "Yeah. Of course we do, Oliver. Why?"

Rhineford looked over to Peltier, who simply nodded. He finally looked over to Parker, who simply stared at him questionably. Where was this coming from?

"What about you, Parker?"

After a few moments of uneasy silence, Parker hesitantly replied, "Yes. I trust you, man."

Rhineford looked at him for a moment, before turning back to the encampment. Taking in a deep breath, he let out a soft sigh, "Okay, then." The grip on his DMR suddenly tightened. Parker wondered what was going through his mind. Then it happened.

In the blink of an eye, Rhineford stood up and raised his weapon, aiming directly at the locals, specifically at one of the two men molesting the captive. Parker's eyes widened in shock. He gasped as he lunged towards his friend in a futile attempt to stop him. He was too far away, though. All he could do was yell out as Rhineford locked onto his target and squeezed the trigger.

"RHINEFORD, DON'T!"

* * *

 **United Dominion Archives**

 **(2544 Edition)**

* * *

 **Elemental Nations**

* * *

 **Marsh Country (AKA Swamp Country)**

Founded: 2512 TC (Terran Calendar)  
Capital: Hashimaki  
Current Daimyo: Morishita Senichi (64 years old)

Population: 5.21 million  
Army Size: (Est.)  
28,000 Ashigaru Conscripts  
8,000 Samurai

National Ratings: (On a scale of 1-10)

Military: 4/10  
Economy: 4/10  
Industry: 2/10  
Infrastructure: 3.5/10  
Population: 3/10

Total Rating: (Out of 50)  
16.5/50

* * *

 **Geography**

Climate: Tropical  
Dominant Biomes:  
Rainforest  
Wetland  
Flooded Grassland

Average High/Low Temperatures:  
(Summer) October: 91°F  
(Winter) March: 36°F

Highest Elevation:  
1,253 meters (4,110 Feet)  
Mount Isawa

Lowest Elevation:  
-2,425 meters (7,956 Feet)  
Hatsuro Valley

* * *

 **Hidden Marsh Village (AKA Hidden Swamp Village)**

Founded: 2516 TC (Terran Calendar)  
Current 'Numakage': Takashima Yukinaga /2nd Numakage\ (51 years old)

Village Population: 27,000  
Shinobi Force Size: (Est.)  
3,500 Shinobi

Village Ratings: (On a scale of 1-10)

Military: 3.5/10  
Economy: 5/10  
Industry: 3/10  
Infrastructure: 4/10  
Population: 3.5/10

Total Rating: (Out of 50)  
19/50

* * *

 **Country Bio:** A country born out of the fires of the 2nd Shinobi World War (2506-2512), Marsh Country is a break off country of the old Sky Empire, which fell apart and collapsed into numerous states in the last years of the war, along with the early post-war years. Marsh Country was 'founded' during the war by the Rebel factions within the region, fighting the Imperial Shinobi and Samurai of the Sky Country, in 2510. However, the country wasn't 'Officially' recognized by the other nations until after the war's end.

In the years following the war, Marsh Country was beset with the problems of a new nation. The region's few farmlands were largely in ruins, as well as the land's infrastructure and industry. The country's moderate-sized population were largely situated near the coast, though there are villages and towns of considerable size further inland.

Over the next several years, the country would attempt to rebuild the land, burdened by marauding bandits, famine, and a crippled economy. Along with opportunistic neighbors, such as Forest and Demon Countries, the situation looked bleak for the young country. However, the foundation of the Hidden Marsh Village in 2516 changed the fortunes of the Marsh Country. With the country now having its own dedicated Shinobi Force, the Marsh Military went about crushing the numerous gangs of bandits that plague the land, along with securing the borders of their Country from neighboring Countries looking for more territory in the wake of the Sky Empire's collapse.

As the years went on, Marsh Country's situation continued to improve, slowly but surely. Border skirmishes were common, but not frequent. However, before long, an old enemy reared its ugly head. Sky Country, fresh from their reclamation of the region that was once Bird Country (Annexed in 2522.), were looking to retake their old territory back. Several clashes have occurred between the Marsh and Sky Villages over the decades, though never escalating to full fledge war, even during the period of the 3rd Shinobi World War (2528-2540). Tensions remain high between the two factions, but have yet to escalate to war.

Today, Marsh Country stands as a moderate but growing power amongst the elemental nations. While nowhere near as powerful or prosperous as some of the Western Shinobi Nations, such as the Land of Fire or the Land of Lightning, the Country has enough resources and land to grow and develop, if given time. However, tensions have been slowly rising between Marsh and Sky Country, largely due to a recent number of kidnappings and assassinations from both sides. Whether this will erupt into war, has yet to be seen.

* * *

/-\

\\-/

* * *

 **Sky Country**

Founded: 2198 TC (Terran Calendar)  
Capital: Kenhaba (Is also the location of the Hidden Sky Village.)  
Current Daimyo: Okuda Sotatsu (59 years old)

Population: 8.48 million  
Army Size: (Est.)  
52,000 Ashigaru Conscripts  
25,000 Samurai

National Ratings: (On a scale of 1-10)

Military: 5/10  
Economy: 5/10  
Industry: 2.5/10  
Infrastructure: 5/10  
Population: 3/10

Total Rating: (Out of 50)  
20.5/50

* * *

 **Geography**

Climate: Temperate  
Dominant Biomes:  
Temperate Forest  
Grasslands

Average High/Low Temperatures:  
(Summer) October: 80°F  
(Winter) March: 5°F

Highest Elevation:  
3,012 meters (9,881 Feet)  
Mount Keno

Lowest Elevation:  
-500 meters (1,640 Feet)  
Kawasaki Cove

* * *

 **Hidden Sky Village**

Founded: 2422 TC (Terran Calendar)  
Current 'Sukaikage': Miura Kenji /6th Sukaikage\ (45 years old)

'Village' Population: 36,000 (Kenhaba's total population is 282,000)  
Shinobi Force Size: (Est.)  
5,000 Shinobi

Village Ratings: (On a scale of 1-10)

Military: 4.5/10  
Economy: 5/10  
Industry: 3/10  
Infrastructure: 5/10  
Population: 4/10

Total Rating: (Out of 50)  
21.5/50

* * *

 **Country Bio:** Sky Country is among the oldest of the current nations in the Elemental Nations. Its also one of the only countries in the region to have gained and lost an empire not once, but twice. The first time was back in 2251, which led to an empire that spanned across the western coast of the Eastern Continent, as well as several islands within what is now Water Country and Nagi Island. This empire lasted some 80 years, before being brought down by rebel factions, encroaching militaries, and a crippling economic collapse that caused it to lose all of its overseas holdings.

For the next century, Sky Country rebuilt its strength, fortifying its territory and rebuilding their military strength, even establishing their own Shinobi Village. Then, the Lightning-Water War (2440-2444), throwing the entire Kaizoku Region into conflict. While the county played a minor role in the conflict on the side of the Mist, the country did experience full fledge Shinobi armies for the first time, as well as their potential, and what they saw intrigued them. Sky Country had always been slightly more technologically advanced than its neighbors, but experimentation with Shinobi lead to a new breed of Shinobi Warfare never before seen.

Aerial Shinobi Warfare became a trademark of the Sky Country, with their infamous flying death machines, aircraft carriers, and such, all of which led to a rebirth to their empire. They push inland on their home continent for the next 25 years, expanding their territory all the way to the border of the Demon Country and Wood Country. By the year 2470, they had secured 2/3 of the Eastern Continent, and had turned their attention towards reclaiming lost oversea territories.

When the First Shinobi World War (2486-2492) erupted, the Sky Country unleashed their forces with a fury not seen since the days of their first empire, invading and taking vast sways of territory within the first year of the war, including nearly a third of the Mist's territory and nearly all of Nagi and O'uzu islands.

Though by the end of the war they would eventually be beaten back from their overseas conquest, the war had nevertheless gone rather favorably for the Village. Confidence and pride in their nation had swelled to heights not seen in decades. That why when the 2nd Shinobi World War (2506-2512) started, they went on another massive offensive, this time aimed at Lightning and Fire Country. Unfortunately, this overconfidence is considered by many as to what led to the Sky Country losing the war.

While the initial invasion went well for the Sky Country, it quickly became apparent that they had underestimated their foes, as the Sky Country began to suffer significant losses against the two Shinobi nations. To counter these losses, the Sky Village had depleted their garrison forces stationed at home, leaving behind a minimal force to protect their homeland. This was an opportunity that several rebel factions within the Sky Country's territories had been waiting for. In rapid succession, numerous rebellions and uprising occurred in the Easternmost territories of the Sky Country, forcing the Sky Country to divert more troops away from its home region in order to quell the uprisings.

It was at this moment, that the Hidden Leaf Village, and its host nation the Fire Country, launched a surprise attack on the the capital, Kenhaba. In one decisive strike, the Hidden Leaf razed the capital and surrounding countryside of the Sky Country, killed its Sukaikage and a majority of the leadership staff, and had thrown the entire Sky Country war-machine into disarray. Both Fire and Lightning Countries quickly followed up with decisive counterattacks, driving the Sky Country forces out of their territories and inflicting massive casualties doing so. Combined with a loss of effective leadership, their supply chains disrupted, and numerous uprisings occurring all across their territory, the Sky Country began to crumble and collapse into udder disarray.

By the time the war ended, the once formidable empire had been brought to its knees. Numerous new countries rose in the wake of the empire's collapse, resulting in a major shift of power throughout the Elemental Nations. The Sky Country, having receded back towards its original homeland, had been reduced to a pathetic state of a nation, with a cripple industry and infrastructure, a paper-tiger of a military, and widespread famine. It was well over a decade before the Country's situation stabilized to where it began to recover considerably.

Today, the Sky Country is still a shadow of its former self, but is slowly coming back onto the rise. It has already annexed and retaken the regions once known as the Lands of Bird and Forest, taken over several small islands in the Kaizoku Sea and Hokubu Ocean to serve as naval bases, installed a puppet government in the Land of Wolf, and has rebuilt it military to a moderate, but respectable and very capable level. Tension between the Sky Country and its neighbor the Marsh Country have reached all time highs, but have yet to escalate to full blown war. Needless to say, the Sky Country appears to be on the rise once more.

* * *

 **And that's it for this chapter. I'm not gonna lie. This took so much longer than I thought it would, like nearly three months. My other story, Halo-Mass Effect: Altered Destiny, had taken priority. But, now that the book is nearly over, I can focus on my other stories as well.**

 **I can't honestly say when the next chapter will come out, definitely before the end of the year. I'm focusing on finishing H-ME:AD before anything, so it'll depend on how that goes if anything. That and the fact I'm working on several stories at once. (Luckily I've gotten some help.)**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a comment in the review section to tell me how I did. Likes, Dislikes, I don't care. I actually encourage criticism from the fans, as long as it's constructive, of course.**

 **Oh, and one more thing before I go. I'm still looking for anyone who's a drawer or artist out there. If you are, hit me up on pm. I have a few characters I created that I would love to see be brought to life.**

 **See ya next time!**

 **-Azores**


	3. Prologue Arc: Episode 2

**Hey, guys. What is up, Azores here with another chapter. Quick announcement. I've decided that most of these Prologue chapters will jump forward about 1-2 years each instead of 3, due to some of the background info I'm gonna need to put in. So, there'll be maybe a couple more chapters than previously thought.**

 **Another thing was I noticed that was several people pointed out that the ninjas were seemingly weaker than they should be against UNSC. While you are correct, (In reality they'd probably annihilate UNSC ground forces.) there is a reason for this and it will be explained in further chapters as to why so. All I ask is that you bear with me and read the story as it develops.**

 **Other than that, let's get back to the chapter.**

 **Queue in Intro Music!**

 **'You Know My Name'-By Chris Cornell (Vocals of Soundgarden and Audioslave)**

* * *

 **!WARNING!**

 **This story contains content not suited for younger readers, such as Violence, Blood and Gore, Language, and Explicit Sexual Content. This Chapter's Rating will be placed at M-Rated. Future Chapters may, and most likely will, switch back and forth between the T and M ratings.**

 **Regardless, Reader Discretion for this Chapter is advised.**

* * *

 **I don't own Halo or Naruto.**

 **Bold-My Own Words**

 ** _Bold & Italic-Locations, Time & Calendar_**

Normal-Narrative

"Normal"-Person Speaking

'Normal'-Thoughts

 _"Italic"-Foreign_ _Language_

 _'Italic'-Radio Chatter_

 _/Italic\\-AI/Computer typing_

* * *

-When I was a little girl, my mother would tell me and my sister stories about heavenly beings that lived long ago. She told us about how they could walk amongst the stars in the sky, and were immensely powerful, capable of all kinds of incredible feats and achievements that we couldn't even begin to fathom. And who would watch over us as a sort of guardian angels, until one day, they all just... disappeared. Where they went, no-one knew. But, she also told us about how they came back temporarily in a brilliant flash of light , and gave us the Great Guardian and its fellow protectors to watch over and protect us.

-My sister would eat it all up, but I was never certain about its legitimacy, so I never did believe her. Growing up in a shinobi village and as a Kunoichi, I saw alot of things that blew my mind at times. Some were incredible feats that other Shinobi and Kunoichi pulled off, others were a little more simple, such as the true cruelty of war, even if we weren't officially in one. They were things that I had been through and that I knew were real.

-And on that day when I was captured by the Sky Village, I was certain I was going to die. They would torture me, interrogate me, likely rape me, and then they would eventually kill me. Even though I fought them, tried to resist every step of the way, a part of me had given up and accepted my fate. That I was going to die here. Little did I know, was that somehow, somewhere, I had my own guardian watching over me that day.

 **Takashima Satomi, personal diary, 2545**

* * *

 **Prologue Arc-Episode 2  
-A Roar of Thunder-  
(Part 2)**

 ** _June 10, 2543  
Unknown Star System;  
362 Light-Years from the Psi Serpentis System  
_** ** _407 Light-Years from the Sol System_**  
 ** _Sky Village Encampment_**

Her mind was a haze of confusion, exhaustion, and fear as she tried to get a sense of what just happened. Everything had happened so quickly, it all felt like a blur to her mind. She had been pinned to the ground by the two Sky Shinobi, their hands grabbing and violating every part of her body. One of them then pinned her down by her arms, while the other one had situated himself between her legs, a lecherous grin on his face. The crowd of Sky Village Ninja continued to cheer on their comrades as the man took off his shirt. She attempted to kick him, but exhaustion and chakra depletion had left her weak, and all that earned her was a couple punches to the face and in pain and struggling to get free of their grip, she watched as the man fumbled with his pants, looking at her with a lustful grin and a laugh. She suddenly heard what sounded like a person shouting in the distance, then a loud crack.

Followed by the right side of the man's head exploded, like a watermelon being smashed open. The now lifeless individual toppled over, his body spasm and twitching occasionally. Satomi and several Sky Ninja were sprayed with bits of blood, bone, and brain matter. Satomi blinked and gasped, and many of the Sky Ninja panicked and looked in shock, all trying to comprehend what had just happened. Was another Marsh Village team here to rescue her? She suddenly saw what look like an individual off in the forest, clad in solid black armor, holding something in their arms, but she didn't have time to ponder it, though.

Because mere seconds after the man had dropped, all Hell broke loose.

* * *

The world around her suddenly erupted into chaos, her ears filled with the shouts and screams of the Sky Ninja and what she could only describe as an earsplitting roar of thunder. Several Sky Ninja around her were cut down in droves, their bodies ripped apart in gory fashion, tents and boxes torn apart in spectacular fashion. The Sky Shinobi holding her down was struck a half dozen times, toppling on top of her and further covering her in blood and gore.

A short scream escaped her lips as she curled up into a ball, trying to protect herself from this unseen attacker. She didn't know what was going on. Maybe the Hidden Mist had decided to go back on their deal with the Hidden Sky, or maybe somebody else decided to crash their party. None of it mattered, though. If she didn't find a way to escape, she was likely going to die here.

Somehow, over the sounds of battle, she heard somebody approaching her. She struggled to get up, but suddenly felt someone grabbed her shoulder and lift her up, the body slumping off her. She turned to see who it was, and was met with a large and imposing figure, donning solid black armor, with a solid black visor and helmet looking at her. Surprised, she jumped back with a yelp as the person suddenly grabbed her and lifted her up, holding her with one arm while holding a long and strange looking metal device in the other, waving it about.

A Sky Shinobi popped out of hiding and flung several kunai at the two. The figure turned and covered Satomi with his figure as, to her surprise, most of the Kunai either bounced or even had their tips shattered from connecting with the black armor. Only one Kunai got lucky and was able to slice into the side of the man, where the armor was weaker. The figure turned back to the Shinobi as said Sky Ninja charged with a Katana in hand.

The figure grunted and raised his strange metal contraption, then suddenly Satomi's ears were violated with the sound of multiple loud thuds, originating from the now identified weapon. The end of the weapon was flashing a sort of light, a small projectile coming out every time. These small projectiles slammed into the Sky Shinobi, tearing into his flesh and gunning him down in a bloody fashion.

"Wha-" Was all she was able say, which was replaced with a panicked yelp as the figure lifted her back up into his arm, before running off into the forest. She could see 7 other figures, all of them shooting their strange metal weapons as well. As she was carried back into the forest, she didn't know if she should be thanking or cursing Kami right now. She could only hope that this would turn out for the better.

She could really use a miracle right now. Little did she know, that miracle had already happened.

* * *

 _ **Fireteam Whiskey/Gamma**_

"Get moving, Marines! Come on! Go, go!" Armstrong called out as she fired a burst at the encampment, pinning down the survivors of their initial attack. Peltier was with her firing away with his SAW. The other 6 ODST were running back further into the forest, occasionally firing their weapons back at the encampment, in case someone had decided to grow a pair and go after them. Rhineford and Parker were running next to one another, every so often looking back at the encampment. The woman in Rhineford's arms would occasionally scream at the sound of gunfire that was close and pound at his chest trying to get free.

As they ran, Rhineford could Parker yell at him, "Goddamn you, Rhineford! What the fuck were you thinking?!"

"I did what was right, and I'm sticking by it." Rhineford replied to him.

"Oh, yeah?! And what do you think's gonna happen when the Colonel and all of them find out, asshole?! They're gonna fucking court marshal us, that's what!" Parker retorted as he crouched underneath a low hanging branch. "If we all don't die first!"

Rhineford smirked beneath his visor as he leaped over a fallen log. "Me, yeah maybe. It's okay, though! The Colonel understands."

Parker looked at him dumbfounded, "What? What the hell do you mean?!"

Rhineford's mind raced back to the talk he had with Colonel Barnes, as he continued to run, slowing down slightly to readjust his carry of the woman in his arms.

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

"Wait, what?" Rhineford was surprised at what the Colonel had just said. He had been expecting him to start berating him about disregarding a direct order from a Vice Admiral, yet instead the Colonel had done the complete opposite.

 _'What I said is that as the Senior Non-Commissioned Officer of the group, it is your duty to carry out your mission and lead your unit to the best of your abilities as you see fit. Whatever decisions you make will reflect on you and you alone. Now, I'm not telling you to do anything except your job, however I will inform you that my group is moving to a position near your location.'_

Rhineford couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did Colonel Barnes just tell him, without actually saying it over the comms, to do what he thought was right? He had heard stories about the Colonel, about how he put human lives over completing the mission, which got him in numerous fights with command, but Rhineford had largely dismissed them as rumor. Nobody was crazy enough to try and argue with HIGHCOM of all people.

Or so he had thought.

Rhineford pondered in his mind if this was truly worth the risk. Though he would likely get court marshalled for it, he finally came to the conclusion that, in his mind, it was the right thing to do. It was worth it.

"S-Sir, yes sir. Understood. I'll be sure to keep you posted on any new developments."

 _'Understood, Corporal. I'll make sure to have a couple Wombats on standby to assist with your_ _reconnaissance. Good luck. Out.'_

* * *

"You're shitting me? He basically said to do whatever you thought was best?!" Parker questioned, looking back to see if anybody was following them.

"Yeah! We're gonna make our way to his group and link up! Then we get topside and take her to one of the medical bays." Rhineford shouted over to Parker as they continued running. They suddenly heard someone behind them. They looked back to see one of the locals, a man, roughly 30 meters from them. Rhineford saw he was doing something crazy fast with his hands, before suddenly shouting, _"Katon! Housenka no Jutsu!"_ **(Fire Release: Mythical Fire Phoenix Technique)**

Out of nowhere, multiple fireballs appeared in front of the man, coming straight at the trio. "Holy shit!" was all both the ODST could say as they flung themselves back to avoids the fireballs, which slammed into the surrounding ground and trees, igniting the affected areas into flames. Rhineford, having positioned himself on top of the captive woman to protect her from further harm, rolled onto his back and fired a burst from his MA5C at the individual. The ninja, however, was quicker, having already shushined away to avoid the incoming fire.

'Dammit! They recovered and responded a lot quicker than I thought they would.' Rhineford cursed as he reloaded, 'Figured we'd had a least a few more minutes before they came after us.'

Rhineford and Parker were now firing their MA5Cs at this point, trying to pin down the assailant, when they heard several thunks around them. They looked around and saw what looked like several throwing knives with pieces of burning paper attached to each of them. The woman suddenly panicked and threw Oliver back to the ground, shouting something in her language, as the paper ignited, small explosions occurring all around them, flinging Parker to the ground. The resulting explosions covered the trio in dirt and plant debris.

Parker groaned as he rose to his hands and knees, "Jesus Christ, what the hell was that?! These fuckers have grenades?!" He spotted the lone local again, this time in a tree flinging another one of those exploding knives at someone. He fired his MA5C at him, but again, was too slow as the man shushined away. Parker cursed under his breath as he got up and saw two members of Fireteam Gamma laying down suppressive fire, trying to give them some room to move and pull back.

Parker then glanced up towards one of the trees and saw another one of the locals, a female this time, doing the same weird thing with her hands, before suddenly shouting, _"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"_ **(Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)** Parker, realizing that these were preludes to an attack, raised his Assault Rifle just as she finished speaking and fired, striking and killing the woman, her body. He wasn't quick enough to stop her attack however. To his shock, a massive Fireball appeared and went straight towards the two Marines. Parker barely had enough time to scream out, as the fireball engulfed them, their death throes and screams following shortly after.

Cursing under his breath, Parker got up and noticed several more of the locals following them, flinging their throwing knives and casting more of what he could only describe as magic. He reached into one of his pouches and pulled out an M9 grenade. Priming it, he threw it at a cluster of the locals flinging more of those exploding knives. A couple noticed and, not wanting to find out what it does, were quick to jump/shushin away. The other 4, however, were too late in noticing it and hesitated when they did. They didn't live to regret their mistake, as the grenade went off with a loud _whoomp,_ killing all 4 of the ninja, two of which that were the closest being turned into fine red mist from the blast.

"Hell, yeah! Two can play that game, assholes!" Rhineford heard Armstrong shout, followed by another grenade going off somewhere in the distance.

"Parker! Come on, move it!" Peltier shouted from behind him, followed by the sounds of his SAW going off several times. Parker turned and ran to join the other Marines as several laid down suppressive fire to help him reach them. They were nearly to the clearing, but could see several ninja chasing after them, murderous and vengeful intent in their eyes. As they cleared the tree line and entered the opened grassland, they could hear the ninjas doing something behind them, shouting and such. What, they weren't certain, but they weren't staying to find out.

* * *

"We're almost to the rendezvous. Just-" Rhineford was cut off as they heard a bellow from behind. They all looked back, weapons aimed, as they saw several tree bulging out of the way as the unknown hostile (they assumed) made its way towards them. As the trees gave way, what they saw blew their collective minds.

A massive, gray, bipedal being, towering some 15 feet, came bursting through the trees, bellowing a warcry as it slammed its massive, gorilla-like arms down onto the ground before stopping not 30 meters from them. The creature's body was burly and muscular, built for combat. But what dumbfounded the ODST most was that the creature appeared to be made entirely of stone. Its white, soulless eyes stared directly at them, not blinking once. It bellowed out once more, sending a spine-tingling sensation down each of the ODST's neck.

It eerily reminded them all too much of the bellow of a Hunter.

Rhineford placed Satomi down behind him as he turned to face the monstrosity before them, but received a kunai to the visor, puncturing through it halfway to the hilt and sending him crashing to the ground. Satomi gasped, while Parker roared out in anger as he ran over to help his downed friend. In his heart, though, he was certain that the man was dead. That was, until he heard a groan come from the downed man. Parker cursed under his breath, not believing the man's luck.

Parker immediately knelt down and helped pull the kunai that was buried a third of the way into Rhineford's visor. Somehow, this lucky bastard's visor stopped the kunai from plunging into his head. With a grunt, he succeeded in taking it out, which then Rhineford was quick to remove his helmet. "Lucky bastard." Peltier spoke as the Marines kept their weapons trained on the massive rock monstrosity while Parker helped out Rhineford.

* * *

Satomi, who had propped herself up onto one knee, still doing her best to cover her largely nude figure, was greeted by the sight of a young man with short, dark brown hair and soft blue eyes. His face was adorned with a cute, rather boyish face, as well as a cut across his right cheek where the Kunai had punctured, blood trickling out.

She was surprised, in all honesty. From what she could gather the past several... hectic minutes of interaction, he was the leader of this group. She truthfully had been expecting someone older underneath all the armor, someone who looked like they had seen years of combat. This guy, though, looked roughly the same age as her. While that didn't necessarily mean anything, she from her own personal experience that with age typically comes experience.

That didn't change one fact, however. She had already deduced that these soldiers were professionals, career soldiers even. Their weapons, though strange, and tactics were executed with what she could describe as efficient, maybe even flawless. Like a group of archers, they had used their weapons to suppress the Sky Shinobi and take away their ability to move. It was either that or face a rather gruesome death.

Their movements were also fairly quick, too, but strangely predictable. They never once used any form of chakra, always running in and out of cover and such. To her, this meant that either they didn't want use it because it would give their identities away, or they simply couldn't use it, like civilians. And judging from what happened to the two soldiers earlier, she figured it was the later.

* * *

But she still had two questions lingering in her mind. The first was obviously, who are they exactly? While the thought had initially crossed her mind, she ruled out the Crusader Knights from the far Eastern Continent of Esura. She had encountered them several times when their trade-ships came into Hashimaki Port, and had seen their weapons and gear as well, and it didn't even come close to comparing to what these guys had. So just who the hell were they, then?

The second question in her mind, was why did they bother even rescuing her. Not that she wasn't grateful or anything, but why did they risk their lives for one person that they didn't even know? There had to some kind of ulterior motive at play. With this thought in mind, she wasn't so sure if she should be thankful or wary of her newfound companions. But for now, she was still too weak to do anything to help her situation. All she could do was wait for now and hope an opportunity to arise.

* * *

 _ **Sky Village Shinobi**_

The Sky Village ninja group had caught up to the Stone Golem and the newcomers that had ambushed them and taken off with their target. To say Kotaro was pissed was an understatement. Some 14 Shinobi and Kunoichi were dead, with 5 or 6 injured, and most within the span of a couple minutes. And their warship, which had another 60 Sky Ninja on board as backup in case something went wrong, (That was how serious the Sky Village Sukaikage was taking this mission.) would have only just arrived by now, meaning that their backup would still have to travel some 15 miles inland to get to them, which would take up to an hour of traversing via non stop shushining.

And at the rate they were losing Shinobi, that wouldn't be fast enough.

"Spread out! Don't bunch up." he commanded as he flexed the grip on the Odachi in his hands. The 16 Sky Shinobi spread themselves further apart so that they wouldn't get devastated by one of those explosives again.

"Kotaro, where the commander?" A Sky Shinobi asked.

Grunting, Kotaro replied, "Hideo's been injured, so I'll be taking charge." While that wasn't technically a lie, a more truthful answer would have been that he's trying to save that little girlfriend of his after being hit several times by whatever the hell those weapons shoot. More of a mental hurt than physical. Kotaro, though, wasn't holding any hopes of her pulling through and living. Whatever those weapons are, they've been perfected for warfare. And he fully intended to bring them back to the Sky Village. With an arsenal of these weapons and armor, the Sky Village would be unstoppable.

First, he had to get them, though.

* * *

 _ **Sky Village Encampment**_

"Stay with me, you're gonna be okay!" Hideo shakily spoke out as he knelt over the downed form of Naoko, trying his best to keep his nerves under control. Shallow, pained breaths could be heard coming from her, as she struggled to breath.

* * *

To say she was a mess, was an understatement. Her body was a bloody and torn mess, with an arm missing and three gaping holes in her body cause by those... kunai... arrows... Kami, whatever the hell those were. The only reason he hadn't been hit was because she had been laying on top of him when the attack started. In a blind panic, she had shot straight up and was struck multiple times by those... projectiles.

She had inadvertently save his life. Now, he was trying to save hers.

* * *

"Fucking Hell! Patch her up, already!" He angrily shouted at the the medic next to him. The medic, who was a genin fresh out of the academy, panicked and tried to the best of his abilities to stop the bleeding from one of the wounds on her stomach, but to no avail. While he was able to stop the bleeding from her arm, or what was left of it, the wounds were just too severe and the poor boy just didn't know what to do. His sensei, the group's main medic, had been killed along with his teammates in the opening attack. All that was left was him.

"I-I sorry, sir. I c-c-can't stop the bleeding! It's just-"

"I don't want a FUCKING excuse! I want you to SAVE HER FUCKING LIFE! SO HELP ME OR I'LL TAKE YOURS!" Hideo roared at him, terrifying the boy as he redoubled his efforts to try and save the woman's, and his, life. The problem was that the genin had never been in combat before, though. His body was shaking with fear, the images of several people dying horribly, their bodies being ripped apart, repeating over and over in his mind.

* * *

Though he still had a lot to learn about medical aid, he knew that these wounds were too severe to him to fix. She would need to be brought to a hospital, and the closest one he knew of was in some town on the coast of Lightning Country, some 150 miles from their location. She'd never survive the trip. In all likelihood, she was going to die here.

* * *

Naoko's breath was becoming labored as the color slowly drained from her skin. Hideo began to panic, cupping her face in his hands. "Look at me." He pleaded, as he raised her head up slightly to look at him. Her eyes seemed so distance, her breathes so soft and shallow now it could barely be heard. He could hear her breath out, as if she was trying to say something. "Look at me. You're gonna be-" He wasn't able to finish, though.

Helplessly, he watched as the life slowly faded from her eyes, a single tear falling down the side of her face. She exhaled one last time, before she stopped breathing altogether, her body slowly going limp. Time seemed to slow down for Hideo. Everything around him seemed to blur as he looked down at the still warm corpse of his lover. His breath became ragged and shaky, before quietly breaking into a sob.

* * *

He brought her body close to his, cradling her in his arms while rocking back and forth, as if she was merely sleeping, as he continued to quietly sob. The young genin medic, terrified at what could happen if he stayed, made his way to leave, primarily to put as much distance between him and the now mentally unstable Hideo as possible.

As the young genin ran, Hideo's sob turned into an open cry, rocked her body back and forth in his arms. He would never be able to hold her again. To kiss her. To feel her. To love her. All these things he had shared with her were now gone forever, taken by some unknown individuals. His mind was flooding with numerous emotions. Sadness. Confusion. Fear. But one in particular above the others, Anger. These unknown have taken something from him, something very dear and precious.

"What the hell happened here?!" He could here somebody shouting, as their footfall came closer to him. The sound of several others could be heard as well. Hideo already knew who it was, he just wished they had arrived an hour sooner. He looked up to see the reinforcements, and their ticket off the island, that the Sky Village had sent, all 60 of them, minus the boat crew.

"Hideo, what the hell happened? Who did this?!" The lead Sky Shinobi spoke, looking around at the ruined encampment, equipment and bodies strewed out everywhere.

"Go after them..." Hideo shakily whispered out.

"What? Who are-"

"I SAID GO AFTER THOSE BASTARDS! AND BRING ME THEIR FUCKING HEADS!" Hideo suddenly roared out, looking the Sky Shinobi dead in the eyes, a deranged bloodthirsty look in his own.

The Shinobi, realizing that Hideo wasn't entirely right in the head at the moment, decided to follow the order, before Hideo exacted his rage towards them instead of whoever attack them. He heard what could only assume were the sounds of battle in the distance. With a wave of his hand, he motioned for the Shinobi force to move out, "Let's go!"

The Sky Ninja all shushined away, towards the sounds of battle as they went to go help out their brethren, leaving Hideo alone in the encampment once more, with nothing but the dead and the sounds of his own wails of pain and despair as he continued to cradle Naoko's cold, lifeless body.

* * *

 _ **Fireteam Whiskey/Gamma's Location**_

"Merde." Peltier muttered as he trained his SAW on the Golem, not sure if it would do any good though. While their bullets were good at penetration, they weren't exactly designed to penetrate rock and earth. He glanced to his sides and saw the two remaining members of Fireteam Gamma taking position next to him, weapons trained on a separate target.

Rhineford and Armstrong had placed themselves between the Sky Shinobi and the former female captive, acting as a sort of shield for the woman, though they weren't sure how much good it would do. They all watched as a large individual, standing some 7 feet tall, walked forward, a large sword in his right hand and a couple windmill shurikens folded up on his hip. He was a very imposing individual, with a doo-rag on his head and icy, steel grey eyes. Several scars on the left side of his face could be seen as well. His physique was brimming with muscles, so much so that Rhineford wondered if this guy could have become a Spartan if he had been born within the UNSC.

Stepping forward with a smirk, Kotaro lifted the sword over his shoulder, and started talking to them. _"I gotta admit, you're pretty fucking bold for pulling off what you just did. However, it looks to me that despite that and all your fancy little... toys, there isn't anything too special about you."_

They couldn't understand a word he was saying, but the ODST stood fast nonetheless.

 _"So just who the hell are you guys? You aren't ninja, otherwise you would have been long gone."_ Kotaro continued, arching an eyebrow as he looked over Rhineford, who kept his MA5C trained on him.

* * *

"Parker..." Rhineford warned, glancing over to his friend.

"I know, I'm watching the rock monster." Parker replied, glancing to make sure his MA5C's grenade launcher was loaded, in case the stone golem chose to charge.

Satomi glared at Kotaro, muttering under breath, _"Soga Kotaro."_

Rhineford heard her speak, and looked back to her glaring at the man in front of them. He wondered if that was the guy's name or something. Turning his attention back to the man, he noticed a couple ninjas in the back performing handsigns on the ground. Several of the ODST trained their weapons on them, not sure of what was about to happened.

Their question was quickly answered as two more Stone Golems erupted from the ground, bellowing out and taking position in front of the Sky Ninja. "Well, our situation just went to hell." Parker sarcastically remarked as they saw the Stone Golems take several more steps forward, bellowing once more as they did so.

"Any ideas, I'd love to hear 'em." Gamma Team leader spoke up as he swayed his BR55 back and forth between targets.

 _"This is gonna be your one chance to surrender peacefully. Either lay down your weapons and hand over the girl, or it's gonna get ugly for you."_ Kotaro grinned deviously, pointing his Odachi at Rhineford.

 _"Don't! He'll just kill you and your friends anyhow, the moment you do that!"_ Satomi yelled at Rhineford, who kept his eyes, and his weapon, trained solely on Kotaro while he tried to come up with a way to get them out of here.

If it was just the Ninja, they could possibly fight their way out, but those rock monsters changed everything. They were more than likely durable, more than enough that it would require some heavy firepower to take them down. The only thing that would probably classify as that would be the 40 mike-mike, but it wouldn't be enough.

Just as it seemed as though the fighting was going to resume, a noise could be heard in the distance. The sound caught the Sky Ninja and Satomi off guard, having never heard it before. But the Marines simply smirked at the sound as it got louder, knowing what it entailed.

The cavalry had arrived.

* * *

In the distance, 2 M12 LRV Warthogs, with 1 M12G1 LAAV Warthog and 3 M831 WTTs were high-tailing it towards the two groups, their engines roaring as they sped across the grassland. Kingpin-Actual had arrived. Rhineford grabbed a hold of Satomi and with the rest of the ODST, began to back up, weapons still trained on the Sky Ninja.

Satomi, was dumbfounded at what... ever she was looking at. She could only sit there and stare at the metal behemoths as they roared towards them before all coming to abrupt stops, the ODST inside dismounting and taking up positions. Each one had four large, black wheels, a forest green coloring on the hull, and what looked like two small tusks on the front. Three of them had what she could only assume were weapons on the backs of them, while the other three carried several soldiers in them.

She had never seen anything like them in her life. The only thing she could compare it to were prehaps the Sky Country's Aircraft and Aircraft Carriers, but those were mostly made out of wood and were powered by wind and chakra. These things were made entirely of metal, and looked as if they could outrun any horse on the ground.

The gunners on the Warthogs traversed their respective guns onto the contingent of Sky Ninja, while the others dismounted and set up in front and around the Warthogs, training their weapons on the Sky Ninja as well.

Parker couldn't help but chuckle at their change of fortune, "Christ, it's about time."

Colonel Barnes walked forward towards the group, nodding, "Sorry we're late." He glanced over at Kotaro, then muttered, "Damn, he's a big one." He stepped up and sized up Kotaro, even though the 7 foot man towered over the 6'4" Marine, the Colonel didn't seemed fazed in the slightest by him. Kotaro, hesitant that his group was now outnumbered, and likely outgunned, held his Odachi in a defensive manner, a scowl adorning his face.

 _"Just who the hell are you people?"_ He muttered as he glared at Colonel Barnes.

"Atlas, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't that sound like it was Japanese?" Barnes asked in his comms, ignoring the man for the moment.

"Somewhat archaic, but yes, that was Japanese." a woman with a slight British-accent replied through the helmets speakers, "Standby, I'll translate it into everyone's universal translators so they can communicate. Though, I doubt it'll do much to defuse the situation at the moment." She deadpanned at the last sentence.

Chuckling, Barnes replied, "Yeah, I think we're beyond that now."

 _"Hey, asshole! Answer me! Who the hell are you?!"_ Kotaro demanded once more, now pointing his Odachi at the Colonel.

 _"Relax. There is no need for such hostility between us."_ Barnes spoke in the locals' language, catching all the ODST off guard. Rhineford and the others looked at him dumbfounded.

* * *

"What the hell?"

"How does he know their language?"

"Dude, how's he doing that?"

These were just a few of the questions that were muttered amongst the troops as the Colonel conversed with the locals in their native language.

"Is it just me, or does their language sound familiar?" Peltier whispered as the ODST watched on.

 _'That's because the locals are speaking a sort of archaic Japanese, PFC Peltier.'_ Atlas suddenly spoke over the comms.

"Wait, seriously? How come we didn't realize that sooner?" Rhineford asked, surprised that the locals would have developed a language that also happen to be one of the hundreds spoke within UNSC Space.

 _'That's probably due to the facts that Japanese isn't spoken by a lot of people, in comparison to the UNSC's total population, and due to English basically being the Lingua Franca of the UNSC for the past 400 years.'_

"Ok, makes sense I guess. So communicating shouldn't be too much of a problem then, I hope." Rhineford continued.

 _'Nope. I'm already downloading the language pack into your universal translators, so now you can communicate with your damsel in distress behind you.'_

Rhineford scowled and rolled his eyes at that, earning a giggle out of the AI. The Marines, knowing they had the advantage now, pressed up their positions in their confidence, causing the majority of the Sky Ninja to back up defensively at the new threats. Kotaro, however, stood his ground.

 _"Hostility?! I think we're past that point, asshole!"_ Kotaro growled out.

 _"Choices were made. Some of them were poor choices that led to conflict. What happened was an accident and for that, I apologize."_ Kotaro narrowed his eyes as Colonel Barnes continued to talk, _"But, there isn't anymore need for conflict between us._ _We didn't come here looking for a fight."_

The Sky Village Shinobi couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the man before him. After his guys attacked them, for no reason as far as he was concerned, this guy was wanting to talk about playing nice. No way. He probably ordered them to attack. However, that didn't mean that he wouldn't be willing to play ball. While he wasn't the smartest man in the Shinobi Nations, he was far from the dumbest. Even he could tell that these guys had gear and tools that were leagues ahead of anything they had. Getting their hands on that would be immensely useful to Sky Country. If anything, he could just buy some more time until their reinforcements arrive.

Lowering his Odachi, Kotaro smirked, _"If that's true, then hand over the girl and we'll start talking."_

* * *

 _ **15 minutes prior  
5,000 Km above Shinsei in Orbit  
UNSC Everest  
**_ _ **Bridge**_

In the span of less than 5 mins, things had gone to hell in a handbasket. Cole was fuming, to put it lightly, as he watched the ODST opened fire on the encampment, cutting down several of the Locals. Any chances of a peaceful first contact was now thrown out the window. As he listened to the sounds of battle through the speakers, he could feel his blood boiling as he watched on the holo-pad.

"Goddammit!" He cursed, slamming a hand on the holo-pad. Lyrenne Castilla next to him sighed, "So much for peaceful First Contact."

"Sir, Kingpin-Actual is moving towards Fireteams Whiskey and Gamma's location. ETA 10 minutes." One of the bridge personnel shouted to the Vice Admiral.

"Get a couple Wombats to divert for a possible CAS mission. Get the remainder of our troops on the ground. I want this island locked down and secured today." Cole ordered, to which the respective crews went about their new tasks.

Turning to his old flame, he spoke, "Lyrenne, I think we'll have to speed up that colonizing plan of yours. Tell your civi ships to commence their approach and start colonizing efforts. I'll have Brigadier Gen. Hammond focus on securing the island." Lyrenne nodded and started to type on her data-pad the commands, she received another message, stating that the first of the Phoenix-Class they had acquired was an hour away from them.

"Unbelievable. Jarheads couldn't keep their trigger fingers under wraps for an hour without shooting up the locals." he heard Rebecca mutter in the back, a scowl adorning her face.

* * *

"Sir, we've got a problem in Cryo-bay 3B!" A crewman suddenly shouted.

"What's going on?" Cole asked as he kept his eyes glued to the holo-pad.

"One of the Spartan-IIs has been woken up from Cryo."

Cole's eyes widened at the news. Of all the things that could happen, that was the last thing he needed. "YOU HAVE SPARTANS ABOARDS?!" he could hear Rebecca shriek, her eyes wide in disbelief. The other URF Soldiers that had tagged along with Lyrenne and Rebecca were now sweating in their armor at the mention of Spartans.

"What the hell's the meaning of this, Preston? You never said anything about Spartans being aboard!" Lyrenne accused.

Giving a short sigh, Cole replied, "They were a last minute addition by ONI before Psi Serpentis started. Believe me, I had no say in the matter of whether or not I wanted them on my ship."

"That doesn't explain why you didn't mention they were aboard. What do you think's gonna happen when they learn there's a URF Fleet right next door to your ship, let alone when they find out we're working together OR the fact we're not going back to the UNSC!?"

"I know. I was hoping I could deal with that problem later. Where is the Spartan right now?" Cole asked.

"Sierra-072 is currently in the nearby Armory finishing up acquiring some weapons and ammo." Caesar replied, his hologram coming to life on the holo-pad.

"How did they even get out to begin with if you had them in Cryo?" Rebecca asked.

"Apparently, one of the crewmen was working the controls to release personnel currently in Cryo-sleep and accidentally pressed the wrong pod control, releasing Sierra-072 from the pod, and was unable to stop the thaw-out." Caesar replied casually, as if it were an everyday occurrence.

"How the hell do you-" Rebecca was about to continue, but was cut off by her father.

"Give me the Spartan's location, again." Cole ordered.

"Sir, S-072 is now heading for the ODST Deployment Zone, I believe she's planning on using one of the drop pods to get ground-side." Caesar suddenly commented, one of the monitor screens changing to show the 7'2" tall supersoldier, clad in the Mjolnir CQC Armor, with an navy blue coating with some minor imperial red coloring on the arms, legs, shoulders, and back of the torso. He noticed that the Spartan also had a jetpack on her back.

"Get me comms to that soldier." Cole spoke, waiting for Caesar to connect with the Spartan's comms so he can find out just what the Spartan was planning to do. "Comms established, sir."

* * *

"Sierra-072, this is Vice Admiral Cole."

On the screen, the Spartan stopped what she was doing and looked directly at the camera. "Yes, sir. Go ahead, Sir."

"Do you mind telling me what you're doing?"

"Sir, friendly units are being engaged on the ground and are in need of assistance. If I deploy the drop pod now, I can reach them in roughly 10 minutes." The Spartan replied. Cole arched an eyebrow at that, wondering how she had learned of the situation on the ground so quickly.

"Sierra-072, we already have units inbound to assist them. I'm sure they'll be able to handle it themselves until backup arrives." Cole responded, trying reassure her and get her to stand down.

"Sir, the ODST have cleared the tree line. Kingpin-Actual are 2 minutes out from their current location. However there's another problem developing." Caesar commented, before changing the holo-pad's screen to show the coast near the encampment, revealing a large ship, what Cole and the others could only describe as a small, wooden Aircraft Carrier, maybe 600 Feet in length and having what appeared to be some sort of aircraft. He could see several smaller boats beached on the shore, which meant that the locals had reinforcements inbound. The more Cole looked at it, the more the thing looked like one of the Aircraft Carriers from World War 2, minus all the AA guns.

"It appears that the natives are a little more advanced than previously thought, Vice Admiral." Caesar commented, as he presented statistics and info on the vessel.

Glancing back at Lyrenne, whose eyes were fixed on the vessel, he whispered, "So it does." Before looking back to the monitor screen. "Sierra-072, you have green light for deployment. Get down there and assist our soldiers in securing the island."

"Yes, sir." The Spartan responded before getting into the pod and awaiting for the drop to commence.

* * *

"Navigation, get our ship in atmosphere. If needed, we'll provide support for the ground forces." Cole ordered, as Caesar and the navigation crew went about moving the ship into the planet's atmosphere. Seconds later, the rumbling of the ship's engines increased in intensity as the Cruiser accelerated. While he at this point it would be mostly just wishful thinking, he hoped this situation didn't get escalated any further.

There wasn't really a Plan B if it did.

* * *

 _ **Kingpin-Actual**_

 _"If that's true, then hand over the girl and we'll start talking."_ Kotaro replied, smirking as he finished.

Barnes looked back at Satomi, whose own eyes narrowed at his as she tensed up, uncertain of what was about to happen. Despite having a visor covering his face, Satomi felt like he was staring into her very soul. After what felt like an eternity, she heard a sigh come from the man as he turned back to face the Sky Village Shinobi.

 _"Yeah... I'm afraid that's not going to happen."_

 _"What?"_ Kotaro asked in a low voice. Growling, he spoke up, _"This woman is a criminal responsible for the deaths of 30 of our Shinobi, and that's not including our Samurai and Ashigaru, let alone however many she's killed in other countries. We caught her and she will answer for her crimes."_

 _"Does answering for a crime require you to rape her?"_ Barnes retorted.

Kotaro snorted, _"She's an enemy captive. Any rights she had in her home country don't apply to ours. As a prisoner, we're free to do whatever we wish with her."_

 _"She's not your prisoner, anymore."_ Barnes replied, his voice threatening, _"And it's not up for debate."_

 _"Listen here, fucker."_ Kotaro sneered as he tightened the grip on his Odachi, his patients was starting to run thin, _"You're either going to hand her over peacefully, or this is gonna get ugly for you."_ He's come to the conclusion that these newcomers weren't going to play ball, so now this called for intimidation. Only problem was, they didn't seem threatened in the slightest. They knew they had the edge here. Either that, or they were really damn good at hiding it.

Barnes slowly lifted his BR55 up slightly, switching the fire-selector to full auto. Atlas was already warning the other ODST that, in Barnes' words, shit's about to go down. The other ODST prepped themselves for a possible firefight, the Warthog gunners traversing their guns towards individual targets.

* * *

Kotaro's eyes narrowed, before grunting in frustration. They couldn't afford that bitch getting back to Marsh Country. If she did, they're plans would be ruined as the Hidden Marsh would immediately be on alert for any possible invasion, setting their plans back by years. That was something they couldn't allow. But he's seen their firepower first hand. Despite having confidence in the Sky Ninja, and at the very least himself, he knew that they would lose if they attacked. The newcomers' numbers and strength would simply be too much.

Kami, they took out half a contingency of 36 soldiers at the cost of 2 of their own, out of an original force of just fucking _8._ Granted, they had the element of surprise, but that still didn't change the fact that they had utterly decimated an elite platoon of Shinobi. Facts were facts.

That is, until Kotaro sensed a familiar presence coming in from his group rear. And that caused him to smile as he realized what, and who, it was. Straightening himself out, he spoke one more time to Colonel Barnes, _"As I said, you either hand her over, or everyone of is going to die. Starting with you, tough guy."_ he grinned devilishly as he pointed his Odachi straight at Barnes, who remained calm and unmoved. He realized, though, that something was up the moment the Shinobi started smirking.

Barnes, realizing that this situation wasn't going to improve now, mentally prepared himself for what was about to happen as he took in a breath. He watched Kotaro's leg foot shift slightly back, and mimicked the move with his right foot, raising his BR slightly as he did so. Barnes saw the other Shinobi preparing to attack, as he took a experimental step back, then readjusting the weight on his feet. He could hear Rhineford behind him moving Satomi back towards one of the Warthogs for protection. "Barnes..." He heard Atlas call out in his helmet's speakers, worry filling her voice. He locked eyes with Kotaro, who glared at him with what he assumed was with evil intent in his eyes.

He let out the breath he had been holding in, and then, for the second time that day, all hell broke loose.

* * *

Several Exploding Kunai went sailing past Barnes' head and struck one of the M12 Warthogs and an M831, seconds later ignited and consuming the two Hogs in several fiery explosions. 3 ODST were caught in the blast, with only one being lucky enough to have avoid death by diving for the dirt fast enough. The Colonel's reaction was immediate as he open fire on the group of Shinobi with his BR55, 9.5x40mm rounds tearing down range as dozens of more Sky Ninjas burst out of the treeline and, with several war-cries, charged the ODST positions.

The ODST opened fire on the Shinobi, the surviving M12's LAAV thundering as it's fired away at 900 rpm, dropping several of the Sky Shinobi in the initial barrage. Several Sky Shinobi retaliated by casting several fire and water jutsus, flipping one of the two M831s as the Marines all dove for cover.

* * *

Barnes immediately began falling back, firing at several Sky Shinobi before the BR's counter showed empty. Cursing, his unloaded the magazine and slapped a fresh one in, setting the fire-selector to burst before resuming fire. The big bastard he had been staring down, and talking to, Kotaro he thinks the guy's name was, had vanished into thin air the moment those knives had exploded. But he didn't have time to wonder where he had run off to, as two Shinobi suddenly appeared on his flanks, Kunais in hand, ready to strike. The Colonel threw himself into the closest one, swinging the butt of his rifle and connecting with the Shinobi's wrist, knocking the Kunai out of it. He followed up with a strike to the abdomen, causing the man to double over and stumble back. The second Shinobi lunged forward with his Kunai. Barnes twisted his body, falling to the ground as he did so, and fired two bursts as he fell backwards.

The shots missed, but still caused the Shinobi to roll to the side to avoid being struck by the rounds. Barnes quickly shifted his body and kicked out the legs of the first Shinobi from underneath him as he recovered, sending him down flat on his back. The Colonel followed up with a quick burst spray over the fallen ninja's torso, killing him. The second ninja retaliated charging towards the ODST once more, going through several hand signs as he did. _"Doton: Kengan no Jutsu!" **(Earth Release: Fist Rock Technique)**_ the ninja said as his right hand was suddenly covered in earth and rock.

Barnes, who was in the process of standing back up, could do nothing but brace himself as the ninja's fist slammed into him, sending the Marine sailing back as he skidded several dozen meters across the ground before coming to a stop on his back.

He rose up, shaking his head for the slight dizziness caused from his tumble. "Ow." Was all he groaned out, with annoyance, "That hur-OH SHIT!" He was cut off mid-sentence as he sudden jerked his body back as a Sky Village Kunoichi suddenly appeared in front of him, swinging a Nagamaki that came just inches from slicing his throat open. He moved to raise his Battle Rifle once more, but the Kunoichi swatted the weapon out of his grip with a rear kick, before coming back around with a downward strike with the Nagamaki.

Barnes quickly rolled to his side to avoid, the sword stabbing into the soft earth. He quickly rolled back over and, with a quick open-palm strike, shattered the blade. As the woman gasped and recoiled from the shock of her weapon shattering, Barnes used the hesitation to twist his body and kick a leg out from under her, tipping her off balance and causing her to lean too far over. He quickly grabbed the woman by the collar, who responded by launching several quick jabs at him all over his chest and head in an attempt to free her from his grip. Barnes' grip, however, was solid, which then he proceeded to make his right hand into a fist, before thrusting it into the Kunoichi's chest. She gasped out in pain, tried to take in a pained breath before Barnes tossed her now dying figure off of him, revealing a bloodied six-inch blade extending from his forearm guard, before retracting back into it.

* * *

Picking himself up, he rose to his feet before being struck in the calf by a Kunai. "ARGH! Son of a-" He cried out as he turned to the source, the Shinobi from earlier, and quickly pulled out his M6G Magnum sidearm at the offending Shinobi. As he charged once more, a fist rock in hand, the Shinobi was cut down by 3 successive shots from the Colonel as he fired. Everything around him seemed to quiet down, save for the sounds of battle in the distance.

As the body dropped, Barnes quickly pulled the Kunai out of his calf, grunting at the pain. "Fuck me." Inspecting the weapon real quick, He groaned, "Great. Now I'm gonna be limping for the rest of the mission." He grimaced as he tossed the Kunai away. "Barnes, I've finished downloading the translation package. You should be able to talk with the natives as if they were speaking English." Atlas suddenly chipped in, having been quiet during the whole ordeal.

"Oh, _now_ you speak up. Where the hell were you 10 seconds ago?! Could have given me a heads up about that." He griped as he pointed a thumb at his bleeding left calf. "Oh, quit whining. You've had worse injuries. Plus, you've been in worse situations than fighting three people armed with swords and spears." The AI retorted, half mocking and half joking. Scowling at his companion, he decided to drop the subject and looked around, noticing that he had been thrown rather far away from the main part of the battle. He could see the ODST and Ninja duking it out with one another, casualties from both sides laid strewed out across the area. "Atlas, how bad is it looking?"

"For us or them? It's largely a stalemate at the moment. They have the numbers and whatever that magic is, but we've got the better firepower and armor. They've suffered more casualties because of this, but they can afford it somewhat, since they out number us nearly 3 to 1." The AI replied, her soft slight-British accent soothing to the ears as he surveyed his own surroundings.

"How many KIA?"

"11 for us so far, including the 2 from Gamma. Their losses? Estimated to be roughly 21 at the mome... make that 23." Atlas chimed, as she observed the live feed from several ODST as the fight dragged on. "Regardless, I think now would be-" She suddenly stopped, her whole demeanor changing. He could 'feel' the AI's emotions flaring. "Barnes." She muttered, "We're not alone."

Barnes looked around, not seeing anything around him or on his motion tracker. He checked to see where his BR55 was, but failed to see where it was. He knew somebody was near, his instincts were telling him to be on alert, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out where they were. Suddenly, there was an explosion of earth and rock behind him. "BARNES!" Was all the warning he got as he dove forward, narrowly dodging the Odachi wielding Kotaro from taking his head off as the Shinobi, to Barnes' amazement, came bursting out of the ground.

Rolling into the dive, he turned around just in time to block another strike from the towering giant of a Shinobi with his right arm. Confused as to why his sword didn't dismember the Marine's arm, Kotaro gave Barnes a rear kick to the chest before shushining away. Stumbling Barnes quickly recovered and readied for another onslaught, only to find the Sky Shinobi standing some 5 meters away, inspecting _his_ BR55.

* * *

Facing him, Barnes spoke, "Hm, so that's where it went. Mind if I have that back? I kinda need it."

Smirking, Kotaro huffed out a chuckle as he continued inspecting, and admiring, the strange weapon, muttering to himself, "Just imagine if we had a hundred of these. A thousand, even. Amazing how they work. Heh, put our crossbows to shame."

"Yeah, and if you down the hole at the front, you'll be shown a wondrous surprise." Barnes remarked, getting in a defensive stance.

Chuckling, Kotaro lowered the weapon, then proceeded to seal it away in a scroll, "Nice try, but I'm not stupid." He spoke, flicking his Odachi wielding wrist a couple times to pop the muscles. "I know what it does, and I don't plan on getting my head blown off. You might be able to make idiots and fools outta those imbeciles, but you won't be able to pull a fast one on me."

"... kinda already figured you weren't," Barnes deadpanned, a sweatdrop forming, "I was being sarcastic earlier."

"Regardless, those weapons and armor of yours are just something else." Barnes was beginning to wonder if this guy was just ignoring him, "If I could get even just a few examples of these back home, the Sukaikage would reward me quite well. And Sky Country would be unstoppable." Kotaro spoke, confident in himself as if the fight was already won.

"That's only if you and your soldiers manage to make it back there, wherever it is." Barnes retorted.

"Them? Their lives are nothing compared to what we could accomplish with these weapons of war."

"You'd sacrifice your men so casually? They mean that little to you?" Barnes questioned, slightly angered that at the man's blatant disregard for a person's life.

Kotaro grunted in annoyance, "That's the life of a Shinobi. We accomplish the mission no matter what, though, in this case I guess I'll have to make an exception. As much as I would love to slit that little bitch's throat, this," He held up the scroll he had placed the BR55 in with a grin, "Is worth more than a dozen Daimyos in the right hands."

While he would have normally doubted their ability to reverse engineer such advance firearms, that magic that they used threw normal right out the window. He didn't want to begin imagining the amount of destructive power that a primitive society with access to advanced weapons could be capable of. All he knew was that now, despite wanting to go help his men stave off the horde of Ninjas, killing Kotaro and securing stolen UNSC assets was top priority.

He looked to see the Sky Shinobi putting the scroll away, before getting in a combat stance, "Though, I can spare a few minutes to play with you." He grinned.

"Careful, I play rough." Barnes was quick to remark.

* * *

Kotaro narrowed his eyes, before performing handsigns and whispering, **"Wind Release: Silent Step."** and the next thing Barnes knew, Kotaro shushined from sight before he could do anything about it.

"Shit." the Colonel got in a defensive stance, looking around to see where the man had vanished to. He couldn't hear any movement, which concerned him greatly. Scanning his surroundings with his M6G Magnum, he saw nothing save for the battle in the distance, making him wonder if the man had just tuck tail and run. 'No, I know his type. That's not his style. He'll sit here and toy with me. The only way he'll leave is if the battle starts going against him.'

Narrowing his eyes, the Colonel continued to scan, looking for anything out of place. 'I need to kill him quickly. But first... where did you go?'

"Atlas?"

"I'm not picking anything up on motion trackers. He may have bailed out." The AI responded, "Regardless, I don't think I need to tell you to be on alert."

"I mean, you can tell me if you want. Be nice to know you care." Barnes joked.

"Shut up. Smartass."

He suddenly had movement detected on his motion tracker from behind him, for a few seconds before disappearing. Barnes glanced back, before turning his body to the side, his sidearm sweeping the area around him. Ever step was taken with caution. Eyes scanning for the slightest thing out of place.

He picked up movement on his motion tracker again, barrelling towards him to his left. He turned just in time to avoid Kotaro barreling into him, firing off a round at the offending Shinobi. The round went wild and miss, with the Sky Shinobi turning towards him to strike once more. As he swung, Barnes ducked underneath it and lunged into the goliath of a man, slamming his shoulder into the man's gut and forcing him to stumble backwards slightly.

Grunting, Kotaro charged forward again. Seeing the ODST raise his M6G once more, Kotaro slid to one knee and swung upward, slicing into the weapon and breaking it. He followed up with a thrust towards the Colonel's midsection, hoping to bisect him. Barnes, however, was quick to counter and was able to block the Odachi with his right arm once more. Kotaro was surprised by this, expecting the man to be cut in half by that strike. Barnes simply just smirked at the man's confusion.

Looking at one another in the eyes, the two combatants prepared for what they both agreed was going to be a long and difficult fight.

* * *

 _ **Kingpin/Fireteams Gamma/Whiskey**_

"Watch your six, the fuckers can teleport!" Parker roared, firing his MA5C, as his fellow ODST as they slugged it out with the Sky Ninja. To their credit, the Ninjas were faring decently for a people that had never seen firearms before. The bastards outnumbered them nearly 3 to 1, and were using the forest and terrain to their advantage.

Or rather, manipulating the terrain to their advantage. Several of the Sky Ninja had done some handsigns before slamming them into the ground, then the next thing the ODST knew there were several pieces of earth and rock sticking out of the ground, giving the Shinobi cover as they advanced on the Marines. The Marines responded by laying down suppressive fire and lobbing grenades at the enemy's new found cover, hoping to flush them out.

* * *

Rhineford, who was currently taking cover next to one of the M831 with Satomi and Peltier, trying to pick off anyone who looked like an NCO with his M392 DMR, Peltier providing suppressive fire with his SAW. Satomi, her chakra levels and physical condition still rather weak, was doing her best just to stay out of danger at the moment. The sheer volume of the gunfire was forcing her to cover her ears, lest she wishes to lose her hearing.

She was also trying to help Rhineford distinguish the Jounin and high level Chunin leaders from the main line of Genin. This was made easier by the fact that the Sky Village liked to use different color schemes on their headbands to identify their ranks. Red for Jounin, Green for Chunin, and Blue for Genin. A rather simple and effective concept.

"Peltier, lay down suppressing fire on the right! I gotta commander in my sights, but she's moving too much for me to get a good shot." Rhineford yelled out as he fired a couple shots from his DMR. "Where at exactly?" came a reply. "The two giant slabs of rock jutting out on the right with the smaller pieces around them!" Peltier shifted the SAW and began peppering the Ninja positions, forcing them into cover. They had learned very quickly that staying out in the open for too long would get them killed very quickly by the UNSC firepower.

* * *

 _PTWANG!_ Came the roar of the Warthog Gauss Cannon next to the APC, sending a slug towards the the pinned Ninja, as well as earning a scared flinch and a shriek of anger from Satomi. She had come to really despise the Gauss Cannon. While the round failed to hit any of them, it did succeed in convincing them to stay down. Before the gun could send another round their way, two more rock golems came barrelling out of the woods, charging the Warthogs. The ODST on the Gauss Cannon traversed the gun and engaged the new targets, each round ripping off huge slabs of earth and stone of the inorganic creatures.

* * *

Rhineford looked through the scope of his DMR, looking for the Jounin that was leading the group attacking the ODST's right flank. Through the scope, he could see several 'Genin' and 'Chunin' hiding behind the various pieces of stone cover. He was still having trouble getting use to the names that these ninja used.

"Satomi."

"What?" Said woman replied, slightly irritated and still glaring at the Gauss Cannon as it fired once more.

"You said it was Jounin that where the leaders, right?" Rhineford asked, as he continued searching for a Jounin.

"Yeah, Sky Village Ninja wear different headbands to distinguish rank. The Jounin wear red." She spoke, before glancing over the Warthog to see the current status of the battle.

"What the hell did you do to them to piss them off so badly?!" Peltier pipped in, grunting as he fired another burst from his SAW. Satomi looked at him incredulously, "Me?! It's not my fault they want to enslave my people and conquer my home. Plus, who are you to talk?! You're the one who blew up their encampment!"

"Yeah, and we saved your ass, didn't we?!"

"Shut it, both of you!" Rhineford finally said, trying to focus on locating a Sky Jounin. He finally spotted the one he saw earlier, in cover trying to order around her troops and get them closer towards the ODST positions. He could see a half dozen genin and chunin around her, listening to her instructions. Taking a deep breath, he sighted his weapon at the most visible part of her, which was her head at the moment. Breathing out slowly, he squeezed the trigger. The DMR barked once, and through his scope, he watched the Sky Kunoichi's head pop like a watermelon, blood, brains, and bone matter spraying everywhere, before slumping over. The genin and chunin that had taken position around her panicked and dug into their makeshift cover.

* * *

"Got her."

"Good shot!" Peltier complimented, as he shot several controlled burst at the position, in case any of the Sky Ninja decided to try and avenge their commander. Several of them decided to do the smart thing at this point, and run. Many of those that ran, however, were cut down by accurate fire by the ODST. Most, however, chose to stay and fight, as the Sky Ninja once again charged up, trying to gain ground on their adversary.

Looking back at the Marsh Kunoichi, Rhineford asked, "How are you holding up?" His stare caused her to be self-conscious about her nudity, as she slightly hid further behind the Warthog.

"I'm fine, considering." She muttered the last part.

Rhineford simply nodded in acknowledgement, knowing that she probably wasn't too comfortable, and likely suspicious, at the moment being around them. He couldn't blame her in all honesty. This was probably the shitiest day of her life as far as he knew. First, you're captured, then tortured and nearly raped. Next thing you know, you're being rescued not by your friends, but by complete unknowns with crazy weapons and tech that you've never seen before. If he was in her position, he wouldn't be feeling too comfortable either.

"Look, I know you have no reason to trust us right now. But, I promise that we're here to help." Rhineford tried to reassure her, not knowing how much good it would do.

Her eyes narrowed, "You say that..."

* * *

Before Rhineford could reply though, he heard a battlecry coming from behind the two, turning just in time to see a Sky Shinobi jump up and fling several Kunai at the gunner on the LAAV. Several of the projectiles struck the ODST in the chest and helmet, some being deflected, but enough penetrating the weak points in the armor to kill the gunner. As the chaingun fell silent, the Shinobi landed and charged the trio, a Tanto in each hand.

Rhineford swung the DMR around to fire. He was able to get a shot out, but the ninja rolled out of the way and lunged at him with the short swords. "Fuck!" Was all Rhineford yelled out before using the DMR to block the attack. It turned into a test of strength as the two combatants tried to gain leverage over the other. Peltier turned to help, but heard several other Sky Ninja charging their position.

"Take care of them! I got this asshole!" Rhineford yelled out as he pushed with all his might to shove the Sky Shinobi back, making him skid several feet away from his friend before stopping him. He heard Peltier shout, "Merde!" before his SAW roared to life. The ODST stared into the pale blue eyes of his opponent, a look of pure hatred looking back at him.

The Sky Shinobi charged, slashing his Tantos at Rhineford as the Marine ducked. The Marine retaliated by slamming his rifle into the ninja's gut, the strenght of the blow causing him to double over. Rhineford followed this up by slamming the butt of his rifle into the man's face. The ninja toppled back from the follow up strike, blood splurting from his nose and mouth as he collapsed in a heap to the ground, groaning in pain from the force of the strike. Before the Marine could finish him off, though, Rhineford was struck in the side by a Kunai, the blade embedding itself into him.

Rhineford cried out in pain as he fell to one knee, turning to his left to see another ninja charging him, kunai in hand. Rhineford raised his weapon and fired, but the shinobi shushined out of the way, appearing even closer than before, and then flung the kunai at him. Slow to dodge, the Kunai striking him in the shoulder, forcing him to drop his DMR. The shinobi lunged forward to finish him off, and just as he was upon him, was stopped by a sudden blade, that looked as if it was made of pure lightning, piercing his neck, killing the man and making his body go limp.

Rhineford was surprised to see Satomi next to the Sky Ninja, the lightning blade extending from her index and middle finger. Panting, she dispelled it, the ninja's body dropping in a heap. She looked over to the marine, who was stupefied by what he had just seen. **"Lightning Style: Lightning Sword Jutsu."**

"Holy shit, that was awesome." His voice trailed off at the end, as his eyes slowly glanced towards her chest. Despite the dirt, grime, and... well, blood, he couldn't help but notice her rather curvy and nude figure. Even if she was caked in dirt and blood, he couldn't help but admit she was a very attractive woman. Despite the fact that he had been around his female colleagues in the nude numerous times, he couldn't help blush slightly at the sight of Satomi. She was still technically a civilian, and he wasn't sure what protocol said on the matter.

Realizing where he was looking, her face immediately went red and she proceeded to whack him upside the head in anger, before covering herself with her arms. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE STARING AT?!"

"OW! Jesus Christ, sorry!" Rhineford whined, rubbing the newly formed welt on his head. He could hear Satomi muttering, "Pervert." under her breath as she glared at him.

* * *

"HEY, LOVEBIRDS!" A sudden shout got their attention, both of them turning to see Peltier glaring at them, "If you're done flirting, do you mind helping me out! Fight going on remember?!" Both individuals went slightly red in the face as they both ran back to the Warthog as the Frenchman fired away with his SAW. Rhineford picked up his DMR and resumed firing at any Sky Ninja that were a little too exposed, keeping them from advancing too far. To his left, Parker and Armstrong came running towards their position, both of them sliding into cover behind the Warthog with the trio before firing their own respective weapons.

"Any idea when our reinforcements are supposed to arrive?!" Armstrong questioned, ducking behind the Warthog as an exploding Kunai went off, kicking up dust and dirt.

"They should have been here by now! Where's the fucking Flyboys?!" Peltier roared, firing a burst from his SAW as he cut down two Sky Ninja that got a little too close for comfort.

"Wombats are attacking a hostile ship off shore, so air support's a no-go for now." Rhineford spoke up as he loaded a fresh mag into his DMR.

"Wait, what?! Why the hell are they attacking some rowboat?" Parker barked, blind firing his MA5C.

"They said it was some kinda Aircraft Carrier and-"

"Are you shitting me?! The fuckers have an Air Force now?!" Parker groaned, not believing what he was hearing.

"You guys don't know about the Sky Village's airships?" Satomi asked surprised. This was likely common knowledge for the locals.

"No, we didn't! Otherwise, we wouldn't be here bitching about our lack of air support!" Peltier replied.

"You have airships, too?!" Satomi said, shocked as she heard him speak. They all suddenly heard something roaring over the sounds of battle, causing the fighting to die down a bit. Satomi was confused by the sound, as to her it sounded almost like thunder or... Then she saw it.

A red fiery streak high up in the sky, all coming straight towards their position. Her eyes widen in panic, and almost immediately rose up to run. "Run! It's a Meteor-" She didn't finish her sentence as Rhineford grabbed her by the hand and pulled her back up against the Warthog. She looked to see a smirk on his face as he looked up as the red fireball continued it descent.

"Are you nuts?! That's a meteor! We have to go!"

"Honey, that's no meteor." She could hear Armstrong chuckling. She looked back up to the fireballs in the sky to see that their flames were dissipating, revealing what looked like black, almost teardrop-shaped objects screaming down. "Then, what the hell is it?" She asked, clearly obvious to her that they knew what it was.

She looked over to Rhineford, who looked back to her, the smirk never leaving his face as he answered, "That's our reinforcements."

* * *

 _ **Drop-Pod A43  
**_ _ **Sierra-072**_

The HEV shook violently as the chute deployed, only slightly slowing its plummet towards Shinsei's surface. With her MK. IV CQC-Class Mjolnir Armor on, it was a little cramped, but she would make due. the rides typically lasted only a few minutes anyway.

 _'ETA till touchdown, 30 seconds.'_ The pod's interface informed her, as she heard the chute disconnect as the view ports of the HEV showed the ground getting closer and closer by the second. Through all of it, Ami-072 was calm and collect, having done these kinds of insertions dozens, if not hundreds, of times.

But one thing that had caught the Spartan-II Operative off guard, was the presence of a URF Fleet in Orbit next to the Everest.

Not only that, but neither side was shooting one another. This meant either one of three things in her mind. Either the Rebels had been offered amnesty, and accepted, the Rebels were working with the UNSC on something that warranted this kind of cooperation, or the Everest, and everyone aboard, had gone AWOL and abandoned the UNSC. Which one it was, she couldn't say at the moment, but for now, there were UNSC Marines down planetside under attack by what she had been told were 'Humans wielding swords and crazy-ass magic powers' in the words of one ODST Lt she had spoken to over comms before dropping.

While humans were nothing new for her, she would have to wait and see these supposed 'magic powers' at hand before deciding their true potential lethality towards UNSC Forces.

 _'10 seconds until touchdown.'_ The Interface spoke once again, as the surface grew larger and larger in her view port. She glanced to her flanks, making sure her MA5C and M45D were still secured in their storage. After confirming this, she counted down the final few seconds before touchdown in her head.

3 seconds later, the entire pod jerked to a halt as it slammed into the ground, right in the midst of combat. Her pod's door burst out. Grabbing both of her weapons, the Spartan-II stepped out of the pod and prepared for combat.

* * *

 ** _Fireteam Whiskey_**

Satomi watched as the Drop-pod had come down, and now witnessed as a behemoth of an individual stepped out of one of the pod, standing some 7'2", completely encase in Blue and Red colored Armor. She couldn't take her gaze of the massive being as it went into action and engage the Sky Ninja.

* * *

The Spartan seemed to dance across the battlefield, killing scores of Sky Shinobi in quick succession. One poor bastard had attempted to get the jump on the armored titan, jumping onto the HEV and descending down on her, Katana in hand as he prepared to swing down on the Spartan's head.

Or so he had thought.

In the blink of an eye, the Spartan had twisted its body and as the Ninja came down, swiped the sword out of his hands, before twisting it back around and slicing the man's throat with his own sword. All of this in the span of 3 seconds. The Spartan then tossed the weapon up and proceeded to roundhouse kick the Katana into the man's chest, flinging him back from the force of the hit.

The Spartan then bounced back into a roll with the one foot that was still planted on the ground, avoiding a barrage of Shurikens front two other Ninja. The Spartan rolled into a crouch, pulling out its MA5C and fired at the two, killing them in rapid succession. Swinging around, the Spartan opened fire on another group of Shinobi, forcing them to take cover, though one was quick enough and was dropped with a well placed shot to her head.

* * *

So far, the hostiles had fallen with relative ease. They weren't kidding when they said these humans were using swords and spears. But so far, no sign of those supposed Magic powers. Then, to her right, Ami saw a shinobi doing several different handsigns. Turning towards the threat, she brought her weapon around, the man had already shouted, "Water Style: Violent Water Wave!"

The next thing she knew, a large jet of water, somehow appearing out of thin air before the ninja, was barreling straight at her. Ami tried to dive out of the way, but was caught in the waist by the jutsu, sending her sprawling and rolling across the ground, her MA5C send scattering away from her. Despite the rather surprising strength of the attack, she found that nothing was hurting too significantly. She was sure her Mjolnir Armor, and her augmentations, had played a significant part in that. Quickly recovering, Ami turned to see the same shinobi charging her with two other ninja. She turned to face them as they closed the distance.

The first one to strike at her was a Kunoichi wielding a Tanto, thrusting straight at her. Ami block the thrust with her arm, the blade breaking against her armor, before countering, slamming her fist into the side of the woman's skull, crushing it and killing her instantly.

The two remaining Shinobi followed up, both throwing a trio of Kunai at the Spartan in rapid succession. Ami was able to dodge or deflect a couple, the remainder bouncing off or shattering against her armor. She noticed one was making hand sign. Remembering what happened earlier, she sprinted forward to try and stop him, but was forced to roll out of way as the Shinobi roared out, "Fire Style: Dragon Fire Jutsu!" followed by a massive flame erupting from his mouth in the form of a dragon. The attack just barely missed her, but had gotten Ami right next to her MA5C.

Scooping up in her arms, Ami looked over to see the same Shinobi preforming more hand signs. He never got to finish as Ami quickly fired a burst from her Assault Rifle, cutting the man down in bloody fashion. Her motion tracker showed the final one behind her, and instinctively ducked as the man swung a flaming Katana. Twisting her body around, she slammed her Assault Rifle right into the man's kneecap, shattering it and sending him sprawling to the ground screaming at the top of his lungs. He was quickly silenced by Ami, who grabbed him one handed by the neck and snapped it, killing him quickly.

* * *

Satomi couldn't believe what she was seeing. One person, granted a giant of a person, who as far as she knew had no skill for ninjutsu whatsoever, was taking on numerous Shinobi and Kunoichi, and was winning. She watched as the Spartan rose up and fired down at another group of Sky Ninjas, killing one and forcing the others into cover from the sheer accuracy of the fire.

"Hell yeah! 'Bout time we started kicking ass!" She heard Parker cheer before firing off a grenade from his grenade launcher.

"W-who... what is that?" Satomi asked.

"That, my dear, is a Spartan. The best soldiers Humanity has ever made." Rhineford proudly proclaimed, happy to see that things were starting to turn around. Looking back behind them, Rhineford spoke once more, "Holy shit, friendly units! Inbound from the rear!"

Looking behind her, she saw a fleet of Warthogs coming towards them, numbering at least a couple dozen.

 _'Kingpin, this is Saber Company, coming in to back you up, over.'_

"Roger that, Saber. Welcome to the party, over." Rhineford replied, a smile on his face as he watched several ODST hop out of their respective transports and join their brothers and sisters in battle.

* * *

The Sky Ninjas, who had for the most had the Marines on the defensive and pinned, were caught completely off guard by the sudden insertion of an additional Company of ODST, plus a 7 foot tall super soldier, the Ninjas now finding themselves outnumbered over 3 to 1, including the casualties they've sustained. While being outnumbered wasn't typically a problem for Shinobi, there were very few instances where they had numerical superiority, the sheer difference in technology, and in the case of the Genin and a good portion of the Chunin, discipline and experience, was now tipping the scales largely in the UNSC's favor.

The ODST were quick to regroup and press the new-found advantage against their oppenents, firing concentrated and overwhelming bursts of fire against the Sky Ninjas, forcing them to drop back into cover as they attempted to find a way to turn things back in their favor. Several Shinobi were cut down and massacred by the wall of lead the Marines had set up, many of them pushing up and lobbing grenades at entrenched Shinobi, resulting in a multitude of explosions that rocked the battlefield.

The Sky Ninjas, to their credit, held their ground and didn't falter, some even retaliating with jutsu and explosive kunai. Though several Marines were killed, it was very clear now that the Sky Ninjas were now on the losing end and on the verge of being overrun.

And in the midst of all of this, Satomi's gaze was never off the form of the Spartan-II as she fought one ninja after another with rapid succession. With their numbers rapidly depleting, some of the ninjas attempted to fall back, seeing that this battle was turning into a massacre for them.

The UNSC, however, wasn't going to let them get away so easily.

* * *

 _'ODST Forces, this is Stingray-6. We're back from a sortie and ready to provide support, over.'_ The comms crackled as overhead, Rhineford and the others could see a trio of F-99 'Wombats' flying in to assist.

Armstrong smacked Peltier's shoulder, chuckling, "There's our air support." A grunt of annoyance was her response.

 _'Roger that-shit, Stingray-6. This is Kingpin-Actu-GAH, FUCK! Provide close air support an-Christ, almost hit me!- And take these fuckers out! Motherfucker, this guy's fast!'_ Colonel Barnes' voice came up over the comms. From the sound of things, he was fighting his own battle.

"Shit, sounds like Colonel could use some help." Parker spoke, looking over to Rhineford. Nodding Rhineford spoke into his headset, "Colonel, this is Fireteam Whiskey, we're on our way to assist you."

 _'NEGATIVE! Do not follow through with that-AH, SHIT! This bastard's got skill and is too damn good for any of you! GODDAMMIT, HOLD STILL DAMMIT! Over!'_

Before Rhineford could reply, another voice spoke on the comms, _'Colonel Barnes, this is Sierra-072. I could disengage here and move in to assist, over.'_

 _'Negative Spartan-CHRIST, what is it with you and trying to sever my waist?! You're more useful over there at the moment. All he really has is a big ass sword and a bunch of fancy-ass showoff magi-GAH-HAHA! TOO CLOSE TO THE TENDERS!_ _I can handle this fucktard for now, over.'_

Several of Fireteam Whiskey's members, along with Satomi, couldn't help but sweatdrop a little as the Colonel spoke over the comms. Satomi couldn't help but wonder if the Colonel was even being serious when he spoke over the radio.

 _'Understood, Colonel. Out.'_ Came the Spartan's reply.

* * *

 _'Kingpin, Stingray-6, be advised. Killzones have been tagged. I repeat, Killzones have been tagged. All ODST are advised to either back up or take cover, we are coming in hot, over.'_ The Marines could see the trio of F-99s coming in for the gunrun, their streamline frames flying in a super-sonic speeds.

"Roger that, Stingray-6. Weapons free!" Rhineford shouted in his headset, before flinching at an explosion that was a little to close for comfort, "Light the bastards up, out!"

 _'Argent-V missiles armed, 30 mil chaingun spun up.'_ The Wombats dove down and prepared their attack run. Several Marines could be seen breaking off and running to cover as the Aircrafts closed in. The Sky Ninjas, confused as to why their enemy was pulling back, were initially hesitant to move forward, though several of the more braver, or zealous, Ninjas charged forward to get payback for their dead. These two mistakes would cost them.

"Down! Get Down!" Satomi was suddenly tackled by Rhineford, the Marine throwing his body on top of her to protect from any possible harm. He glanced to her, "Cover your ears, unless you wanna go deaf!" Taking his word for it, both proceeded to press their hands over their ears as the Marines braced for the coming barrage.

 _'Stingray-6, weapons hot. Guns, guns, guns.'_

 _BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTT!_ Was all Satomi heard as the ground around her seemed to shake under the weight of hundreds of 30 mil rounds being slammed into the ground. Dirt, rock and bodies were ripped apart from the kinetic blast of the rounds as each one ignited and exploded. Even with her ears covered, the sheer volume of the weapon was deafening.

Then came the missiles.

Two Argent-V missiles were launched by Stingray-6, slamming into the target area and exploding, kicking up twin dust clouds. Any surviving bodies simply disappeared in the resulting explosions. Earth, plants, and human gore rained down from the heavens, while the very ground shook from the twin strikes. Satomi's heart was racing at that point, her breath shaky as she heard the drone go flying by overhead, its super-sonic speed causing the very air to shake.

 _'Stingray-4, weapons hot. Guns, guns, guns.'_

Soon enough, the next Drone came in for its gun run, the Chaingun roaring as it spewed metal death to any and all below, kicking up more dirt and knocking over trees as it strafed, before zooming past. No missiles were launched from it as it passed.

 _'Stingray-5, weapons hot. Guns, guns, guns.'_

The third and final Drone of the trio came in as well, firing away with its Chaingun, before firing off four Argent-V missiles into the target area, obliterating the treeline and anything still living at this point. Four dirt clouds were kicked up into the sky as the missiles went off, raining more bits of earth and gore onto the battlefield, before the final Drone sped past and flew off from the strike zone.

 _'Stingray-6, Saber-Actual. Good hit! Good fucking hit! Targets annihilated, over!'_

 _'Roger that, Saber-Actual. Maintaining flight pattern and resuming patrol mission, out.'_

* * *

Satomi's heart was racing a mile a minute, adrenaline coursing through every bit of her body as she tried to calm down from the shock of enduring... that. She had felt so much terror and sheer adrenaline course through her for anything. At that moment, she could have sworn her heart was going to burst out of her chest. Blinking a couple time, she glanced over to see the destruction wrought by the flying death machines. What she saw was breathtaking beyond belief.

where there had been an entire platoon of Sky Ninja, all ready to fight and die, there was now nothing but pure carnage and destruction. Several craters had been made, either from the Chainguns or from the missile strikes. The forest's entire treeline before them had been uprooted and devastated for a good 30 feet, dozens of tree having been ripped from their base and thrashed about by the missiles' shockwaves. There was no sign of the Sky Ninjas, either they had gotten away, which she doubted, or had simply been eradicated by the blast. It had looked as if a monster had come through and rampaged.

"Kami..." was all she whispered out as she looked out to the destruction,

"You alright?" she looked back to see Rhineford looking at her, a look of worry in his eyes. She nodded softly, before they both rose up slightly and looked back out at the destruction before them. "I think the Flyboys overdid it a little." Rhineford joked, chuckling a little.

"Understatement if I've ever heard one." Peltier replied, groaning and shaking his head to shake off any dirt and loose sediment as he sat back up.

Rhineford glanced at his friend, before widening his eyes in horror, "Oh, shit! The Spartan was still out there. Is he-"

"I'm fine." The sudden voice cause both Rhineford and Satomi to jump in surprise, looking to their left and seeing Ami-072 crouched not 10 feet from them, looking over at them. Her armor was slightly burnt in a couple places, but otherwise undamaged. "Fuck, didn't even hear you." Rhineford replied.

Ami-072 stood up, MA5C at the ready as she scanned the battlefield, looking for anything hostile. "I'm not seeing any movement. Area appears to be clear."

"Still, wouldn't hurt to stay on guard. Just in case a couple of the fuckers survived." Parker spoke up as he stood up, helping Armstrong up beside him before looking out at the battlefield as well.

"Agreed. In the meantime, I'm moving over to Colonel Barnes' position. The comms' gone quiet and he may be in trouble."

"Don't bother." They heard someone shout, looking over their shoulders, they saw said Colonel walking towards them, a slight limp in his stride as he carried his damaged and cracked helmet in his hand. His face and hair were matted with blood, sweat, and dirt, signs that his fight has been rough as well.

"Sir, you alright?" Parker asked. Barnes was quick to wave him off, "I'm fine. Nothing that won't heal, anyway. Fucker got away, though. Bailed out when the Wombats did their attack run. Have them conduct thermal scans to try and locate him."

"Why exactly, sir?"

"Because the fucker ran off with a couple of our weapons, put them all in some little scroll of his before running off." No more needed to be said after that, all of them, minus Satomi perhaps, knowing full well the consequences of what could happen should they find a way to reverse-engineer UNSC tech. Parker immediately got on the comms to inform the F-99 of the situation, while Barnes walked up to Rhineford.

"Corporal Rhineford." Said Marine stood a little straighter as he was addressed, "Yes, sir."

"In accordance with violating a direct order from HIGHCOM, as your Commanding Officer, I am demoting you to the rank of Lance Corporal, and placing Lance Corporal Parker as Fireteam Leader of Fireteam Whiskey."

Everyone of Fireteam Whiskey had their eyes go wide, "W-what? But Sir-"

"Boy, lemme tell you something, right here and now. Personally, I think you did the right thing, morally. You chose to save someone that needed help and ended up taking down a few bad guys along the way." The Colonel's gaze was firm, silencing any protest from the ODST as he spoke to Rhineford, "That being said, it doesn't change the fact that you disobeyed a direct order, not only from your C/O, but from a Vice Admiral at that. Your decision also got 28 Marines killed, another dozen wounded. Fireteam Gamma has lost half of its members and will likely have to be disbanded and sent to other squads. Those casualties would have been higher, had these 'Ninjas' not underestimated us. You made the call, now you need to accept the consequences of your actions, do you understand, son?"

Rhineford lowered his head slightly, mumbling out, "Yes, sir." Softening his gaze, Barnes put a comforting hand on the Marine's shoulder, "It's not the end of the world, in a couple years without any more incidents, you'll be right back to Corporal. In the meantime, I want you and everyone else here to get a little R&R, then secure the area. FOB builders will be here within the hour once we give the all clear signal."

"Yes, sir." Came the unanimous reply from Fireteam Whiskey, before the Colonel looked over to Ami-072, "Spartan, thanks for the help down here, today. You probably saved alot of lives by getting here when you did. Go ahead and get some R&R, too, while you're at it." The Spartan simply nodded in acknowledgment, before walking off, rifle in hand, over towards a trio of Warthogs being used as a temporary triage for the wounded.

Glancing over at Satomi, who nervously shrank her figure a little to try and cover up, Barnes sighed, "Now, will somebody please get this poor woman some clothing? Seriously, everyone of you horny bastards has like three months worth of blue balls and this little strip tease is not helping in the slightest." He chuckled, causing Satomi to blush and crouch down in embarrassment and several of the nearby soldiers to laugh. Today had been a long day, as well as quite an eye-opener.

* * *

 _ **2 Hours Later  
**_

"Where the fuck are they?! They should have been here by now?" Barnes griped as he continued to look up for any sign of the Pelicans and/or Pods that were supposed to be bringing down their FOBs. Everytime he got on the comms with Everest, they kept saying that they were on their way. He groaned out of frustration, as the skies, though slightly cloudy, were still clear of any of their aircraft.

Fireteam Whiskey had set up next to one of the Warthogs, Peltier and Parker eating from their MREs, while Armstrong was going over her medical equipment, making sure nothing was damaged. Rhineford was propped up against the vehicle, his eyes closed as he tried to catch some shut eye.

"Rhineford."

Keyword, tried. With a grunt, he replied, "What, Satomi?"

Satomi, who was now dressed in some grey Marine fatigues that had been loaned to her until they could give her some other clothing, leaned in from her cross legged position as she spoke, "How do your people survive without chakra?"

This had been going on and off for the past 10-15 minutes, after about an hour and a half of her being quiet and reserve from everybody. After he asked her how she was doing, she had replied that she was fine and muttered a soft thank you for rescuing her. Not ten minutes after that, she had begun to ask him questions of all sort regarding 'his' people. Everything from who they were, where were they from, who were their leaders, what was their society like, etc. At first, it hadn't bothered him too much, and he had answered to the best of his abilities most of the time, but now, it was getting to the point where it was annoying.

"Loo-ugh. I-I don't know. We've never heard of it, as far as I know, so I couldn't say for certain. Just something that never occurred where we live." He could hear Parker and Peltier snickering at his predicament, which received a glare from him as well as raised middle finger.

"But, every thing in the world that we know of has chakra! As far as we know, you would die without it! It's just crazy to think that someone out doesn't have chakra in their bodies."

"Didn't I already say we weren't from here?"

"Well yeah, that much is obvious. But what continent? I know it isn't Esura, so where, then?" Satomi deadpanned as she pressed on with her questioning.

"What? Where the hell is that? My family's from Austria." Satomi pressed her brow together in confusion. "Where is this... Awe-stre-ya? Is it a continent or a country."

Glancing at the others before looking back, Rhineford shrugged as he replied, "Well, it was a country."

"Oh... I see. It was destroyed."

"Huh, what?" Rhineford was confused for a moment, before realizing what she meant, "Oh. No, no. It wasn't destroyed, it's just not considered a country anymore."

"I... I'm not sure I follow. Was it conquered?"

Rhineford sighed, "Alright, so a few hundred years ago, roughly a couple decades before a conflict that we called the Rainforest Wars, Austria and its neighbor, Germany, decided to join together and formed the Unified German Republic, and ever since, it's been considered a province." Rhineford tried to explain, knowing that she probably wouldn't fully understand everything he was talking about.

Sure enough, Satomi still looked as though she was confused, "Why did your people join with this... Ger-mony?"

"It's cause they're so much alike, there really isn't that much of a difference between the two." Parker replied.

"We are not that much alike!" Rhineford argued.

"OH, what the fuck ever, Oliver!" Parker countered, "The only major difference between you two is a couple things culture-wise and the fact one of you is Catholic and the other's Protestant!"

"That's not true, at all! There's more than that, Robert and you know it."

"Why the hell does this matter, anyway? I thought you were born and raised on Reach, Oliver?" Armstrong suddenly joined in as she inspected one of her bio-foam dispensers.

"I was, but my family's from Austria, originally. They moved to Reach a couple years before I was born."

"What is this Reach? Is it another country?" Satomi asked.

"Reach," A new voice suddenly joined in, all of them turning to see Colonel Barnes walking over to them, "is the Military Stronghold of the UNSC. A Fortress World that serves as Earth's sword and shield. It serves as the Capital of the Military arm for the UNSC."

* * *

Satomi, still not entirely following everything they were saying, nevertheless tried to listen and understand to the best of her ability.

"Any luck with the flyboys, sir?" Peltier questioned.

The Colonel groaned, throwing his head back in mock anguish as he did, "Yes, _finally._ They're on their way down, should be visible in the next few minutes."

Though she acted as if nothing was wrong on the outside, inside this was what Satomi had been dreading. Once these... airships of theirs arrive, what does that mean for her. Are they going to whisk her away, never to see her family and home again? Or were they actually here with good intentions, like they claim? Though they had been nothing but, surprisingly, kind and caring to her, she still didn't fully trust them. She needed to escape and report all of this back to her Numakage, alert them to what transpired here.

But how? As far as she knew, there weren't any boats towed here, nor did people regularly travel here. She could possible shushin across the water towards the western nations, but the only country there that was friendly to the Marsh was Fire Country, and they were in the opposite direction of where she needed to go, and there was no way she was setting foot back into Hidden Mist territory. That's what had gotten her caught to begin with. Plus, she wasn't entirely sure if she could make the trip across to Fire Country, for it's been awhile since she had eaten anything significant.

"Colonel, what's the plan for her?" She suddenly heard Armstrong ask, pointing a thumb at her.

Giving her a look over, Barnes replied, "Well, for now, we'll feed and take care of her until we can figure out where her home is." This caused Satomi's eyes to widen in concern. Though they weren't exactly hidden, betraying anything regarding to a hidden ninja village was considered treason by all, usually punished by death. If they started to ask her questions about her village, she would have no choice but to attempt an escape.

"Yeah, I heard that one of the guys just found a couple dozen maps that showed the hemisphere and certain regions inside those Sky Ninja's encampment." Rhineford suddenly piped in.

 _"Yes, we've already began relaying information to Everest. They should have a political map up and running before too long."_ They heard Atlas speak through Barnes' speakers, as he walked over and took a seat next to the group, sitting next to Rhineford and Satomi, before lying on his back and closing his eyes.

Satomi's eyes narrowed suspiciously, "Everest?"

Popping one eye open, Barnes chuckled, "Our Flagship, named after a large mountain on Earth. Don't worry, you'll see her soon enough." He brought his arms behind his head as closed his eye once more.

"Shit, they're coming in atmosphere?"

"Admiral Cole must not be wanting to take anymore chances."

"No, he does not." Barnes lazily replied.

Satomi started to speak, but stopped when she faintly heard something in the wind. A faint rumbling that slowly and slowly grew louder, indicating something was approaching. The Marines must have heard it as well, as they began to look around to locate the source of the signal. As the rumbling grew louder, Satomi worried that they were about to be attacked once more, looking around in paranoia.

She suddenly felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and looked to see it belong to Rhineford. "It's alright, it's just our buddies coming to join the party." He looked past her, his eyes showing what she could only describe as awe-struck.

Turning around, she realized why.

Cutting through the clouds, the UNSC Everest, along with a couple Paris-Class Frigates and a Phoenix-Class Colony Ship, seemed to glide in, its engine rumbling ferociously as it slowly moved over the island, deploying hundreds of Pelicans and Albatross to the island, while the Phoenix-Class deployed several pods and transport craft of its own.

Satomi was breathless by the sheer size of the ships, and the fact that they flew through the sky! She had never seen something like this before, nor something so massive. In that moment, she also came to another conclusion. Even if she had wanted to, she couldn't have escaped even if she tried.

* * *

"Sir, I believe we need to talk." Barnes cracked an eye open and saw Ami-072 looming over him. Rising to his feet, he sighed, knowing what this was about.

"I assume this is about the fact that we're working with URF." He looked at her. Though she didn't move, he knew that's what it was.

"Alright, Ami. Let's talk."

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile...  
Northern end of the Island**_

"What the hell is that?" A Sky Shinobi, holding his bloody stump of an arm spoke as the survivors looked back at the descending giants in the sky. Their small boat rocked gently in the waves as they moved further away from the island. At the moment, their plan was to head towards the friendly Land of Lightning and catch a ride from there to Sky Country.

Over 120 Sky Shinobi, including the 500 naval crewmen manning their warship, had been reduced to some five survivors. They had gotten lucky as they were the ones who had chosen to fallback before the airstrike commenced, the ones who had survived falling back anyway. Everyone else, as far as they knew, was either dead or captured, likely dead.

And in all of this, Sogo Kotaro could only think of the fight he had with the enemy leader. He wasn't in the best shape, though when he left his opponent hadn't been either. His nose was busted and bloody, his right eye was black and bruised, and he had numerous cuts and bruises all along his body. Whatever that arm of his was made of, it was strong and very fucking painful. Though he's certain he broke a least a rib or two of his opponent, he was certain that the Colonel had come out in the better condition of the two.

"A fucking prosthetic arm, but how? How did it withstand my strikes? It should have broken after the first couple of hits..." He muttered to himself, lost in thought as he replay the fight in his head. The Colonel had proven a far more challenging opponent that he had assumed, for someone who doesn't use chakra. Every strike or attack was met with either a block/dodge or a well timed counter, the man being surprising faster than he appeared in that strange armor. The man had also been far more agile than he had anticipated. He subconsciously winced as he brought a hand up to his three broken ribs. A most challenging opponent, indeed. Needless to say, they fact that they had gotten away, that _he_ had gotten away, was nothing short of a miracle.

But, they hadn't come out of it empty handed.

Lifting up a scroll, he smirked as he examined it, satisfied it hadn't received any damage. Inside contained several of the unknown's weapons and examples of their armor he had looted off a couple of their dead. He would have gathered more, but time was limited, so he basically had to grab and run. While it won't immediately make up for the loss here, in the long run it would pay off and see his people return to the days of a feared and respected empire they deserved. It was their destiny to reobtain this empire of old, and now it was only a matter of time.

He glanced over to the others that had survived with him in the boat. To his left, a couple survivors from the battle, whose names he couldn't remember, were looking over his shoulder as the massive ships in the sky continued to descend over the island. At the end of the boat, there was some young Genin medic, manning the motor on the boat. He looked shaken up by today's events.

And finally, lying unconscious to the right, was Kiyabu Hideo. The bastard had given him alot of trouble when Kotaro decided to retreat. He had went back to the encampment on a pure hunch, and found the man cradling his dead girlfriend, bawling his eyes out. He had initially refused to do anything but sit there as Kotaro tried to get him to go, forcing Kotaro to knock him out and carry him over several miles of land to where the boat was stashed. Initially, he had half a mind to just kill him or leave him there, he couldn't do either as the Jounin knows far too much regarding the Sky military. Even his body would have provided valuable information on the Sky Village, considering he came from a clan.

* * *

In the long run, though, all of this could be turned to his advantage. Hideo, the leader of this op, was a mental wreck, their operation had been torn asunder by some new group, Takashima Satomi would go back and alert her country about his people's scheme, which would throw back their plans by several years, and the only thing that was salvageable was the fact they, or rather he, had acquired some advanced new weapons. This could be turned to his advantage, as now the acting commander of the op, he could use this to boost his own standing within the Sky military, since he was the only one that had come back with anything of value. But he would have to be smart about it.

"How much longer until we reach Lightning Country?" He asked.

"As long as the sea stays fair, should only take 2-3 more hours." one of the two Ninja, a Kunoichi, replied.

"Fine. Keep an eye out for those damn airships. If we have to, we'll shushin to one of the nearby islands and wait until we lose them. We're sitting ducks here at the moment, so stay alert." Kotaro ordered, as the three conscious ninja replied with a simple nod.

"You. Boy." Said medic-nin flinched nervously as he was addressed. Gulping, he looked at Kotaro, before the man continued, "What's your name?"

"Uh... Y-Yasuda Tetsuo, Kotaro-san." Tetsuo hesitantly replied, knowing of Kotaro's bloodthirsty nature.

Grunting, Kotaro suddenly smirked, "Well then, Tetsuo. Guess what? Today, we were a part of history. Some new players decided to make their debut, and along the way, picked a fight with the Hidden Sky Village. And now, I'm going to make it my personal mission to make sure they regret it ever doing so. And you're gonna help me."

Tetsuo wasn't sure how exactly he would be of any help, but from the look in Kotaro's eyes, he knew he wouldn't have a choice.

* * *

 ** _1 Month Later...  
July 14, 2543  
Marsh Country  
_** _ **Hidden Marsh Village**_

The Marsh Country was one of many valley and mountains, as well as many swamps, per its namesake. While Farmlands were prominent, most were in the north of the country, were the swamps were easier to drain and remove. The country wasn't the richest in terms of wealth and economics, but its situation was far better than it had been some 10 years prior, though raving bands of bandits were still a major problem. The only reason they haven't been dealt with is because of the fact the Marsh Country's military would suffer casualties they couldn't afford at the moment, with both the Sky and Demon Countries wanting pieces of their land.

Within this marshland, lay the Hidden Marsh. Small in comparison to one of the 5 Great Shinobi Villages, such as the Hidden Leaf or Hidden Cloud, the Hidden Marsh was larger than others, such as the Hidden Demon or the Hidden Waterfall.

* * *

The Hidden Marsh Village was also a rather uniquely designed village. Situated within a small valley with rising cliffs, in the southern part of the country, the 'main' village was situated on a small micro-plateau roughly 1.5 sq miles across, rising some 100 feet above the valley floor. Beneath it, the rest of the village, connected to the top by a two stone stairways and a small road that led up to it, were split into two separate 'town' that were divided by a river that passed between them, called Takita Market and Yahabiro respectively.

The 'main' village, Asatori, consisted of mostly Clan Compounds, the residence of the Numakage, a Ninja Academy, and several housing projects and stores. The village also had a small hot spring, fueled by a waterfall coming from a small lake within the mountainside. The Numakage Residence, or castle as some called it, is the largest building in the entire village, towered over the others at nearly 90 feet tall.

Takita Market, the town at the bottom of the plateau to Asatori's West, consisted the majority of the markets and stores in the Hidden Marsh Village, ranging from all sorts of goods from weapons to clothing and food. A large number of civilian housing was set here as well, along with a couple Clan Compounds. Both flanks of Takita Market, the North and South, were covered by impassable cliffs sides that rose some four hundred feet, making attack unlikely and difficult. Two bridges cross the river that connected Takita Market with Yahabiro on the other side.

Yahabiro, on the other side of the river, consisted of largely housing and a trio of small crop farms, though a few stores were constructed there. Yahabiro was a relatively new addition to the Hidden Marsh Village, the town having only finished construction 5 years prior. Surrounding Yahabiro all the way to river's edge was a stone wall, rising some 40 feet, that acted as the Village's first line of defense against attack.

* * *

As the villagers of the village went about their lives, within the confines of the Numekage Residence, there was a meeting of great significance taking place.

* * *

 _ **Asatori  
**_ _ **Numakage Residence  
Numakage Conference Room**_

The Conference Room was a large room within the Numakage Residence, where the majority of village meetings took place for the Numakage regarding both internal and external politics. Within the room, there was a large oak round table, with some two dozen chairs that often seated the various Clan Leaders and civilian heads within the Hidden Marsh. Today, 12 individuals were in the room at the moment, discussing several key issues concerning the Hidden Marsh and Marsh Country as a whole. Several maps and various items were laid about the table, all relevant to their discussion.

* * *

"Doesn't anyone have any knowledge as to where she could be?!" growled a very angry Takashima Yukinaga, 2nd and current Numakage of the Hidden Marsh Village. At 51 years old, the current Kage of the Hidden Marsh was surprisingly in good shape for someone his age, though his short, graying hair would indicate someone older.

"Apologies, my lord, but we haven't discovered anything besides the bodies of the other Ninja in her team." Spoke his Anbu Commander, Kaneshiro Nakazo, spoke.

Slamming his fist on the table, Yukinaga cursed, "Dammit!"

His daughter, Satomi, and her team had now been missing for over a month now, and they had just discovered the remains of her team in Water Country. Their mission had been to conduct recon on the situation with the country's civil war. The mission had been expected to take roughly a week to accomplish, minus the time getting there. But now, in light of the new evidence, it appears that something went horribly wrong.

And his daughter was missing.

"Lord Numakage, if Satomi's still in Water Country, our men will surely find her. We're on good terms with the rebellion, so any information they find will most certainly reach us as well." Spoke one of the clan heads, Murata Torazo, as he leaned in.

"And what do you expect me to do, Torazo? Just sit here and wait for something relevant to turn up. As far as I know, the damn Sky Village has kidnapped her." Yukinaga retorted, staring down the Murata Clan Head, who returned his gaze.

"There's not much else we can do, Lord Numakage, save for sending out more squads to Water Country, which would be unwise considering our situation with the Sky Country. We need to focus on the problem at hand, my lord." His senior advisor, Otsuka Kiko, replied.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the damn Sky Village was behind this!"

"In that case, that would be all the more reason to increase the level of security and troops at the border of Sky Country. We need to accept the fact that an invasion may very well be on its way in the near future." Otsuka continued.

"I agree with the Advisor Otsuka, Lord Numakage." Clan Head Mihara Reiko spoke as she arched her hands and rested her head on them, as she observed a map of the Eastern Shinobi Nations. "We need to increase the number of troops at the border and set up fortified lines in order to dissuade..."

"Fortified lines?! Surely you're joking, Lady Reiko. Those swamplands are unsuited for such levels of defenses. It would be a waste of resources and time trying to establish forts and defenses there when they would just likely sink into the bogs." One of the Civilian Leaders, Merchant Guild Leader Yoshinaga Sosa, argued, standing up as if to press on his point.

"Yes, but we can't just leave that area open to attack! They lead right to a majority of our farmlands, which feed the majority of our people, mind you." Reiko countered, narrowing her eyes in agitation at the civilian head.

Sosa crossed his arms, "I wasn't saying leave it open to attack, I'm merely pointing out that-"

"Enough!" All eyes turned to the Numakage, who had stood up and slammed his fist on the table. His head was lowered, an obvious sign that he was mentally exhausted from today's meeting, as well as the strain of his daughter's disappearance. "We... We'll take a small recess before resuming our discussion. Let's reconvene in an hour." Yukinaga breathed out.

Several of the people in the room looked at one another, unsure but none chose to question it. The Clan Heads and Civilian Leaders all began to file out of the room, each one bowing at the Numakage in respect before stepping out of the room. After a moment, the only people left in the room were Yukinaga, his 4 Anbu guards, and the Anbu Commander Nakazo.

* * *

Letting out a shaky and exhausted breath, Yukinaga slumped into the chair behind him, running his hands through his hair before bringing them to his face. As he pinched his nose in frustration, Nakazo chose to speak up, "Lord Numakage..."

"I don't want to hear it, Nakazo." came a growled out response.

"My Lord, I understand your concern for Satomi, but you must also be able to trust in her ability as a Ninja. Just because she is missing doesn't mean that she's been captured or..." The Anbu Commander continued, but was cut off by his leader standing up, glaring at him.

"Finish that sentence and I swear, Nakazo, you will be relieved as Anbu Commander!" the Numakage finally threatened, his grip on the table so tight his knuckles were turning white. The tension between the two could be felt by the bodyguards within the room. After several moments of silence between the two, Nakazo spoke once more.

"Yukinaga, I had a daughter once, too." with that said, he bowed, then turned to walk out of the room. Behind him, he could hear the Numakage sigh.

"Nakazo, stop." Said Ninja stopped and turned to face his leader, who looked at him with a humbled look, "I'm sorry, my old friend. I did not mean to snap at you. These last few weeks have strained my nerves to the breaking point."

Nakazo bowed before his leader, before replying, "No apologies are needed, my lord. I understand the stress you've been put under these past few weeks."

He heard a snort of amusement come from the Numakage, "Heh, I'm sure." slumping back into his chair, he motioned for the Anbu Commander to join him as he had one of the guards bring them a glass of sake and some cups. Nakazo walked over and sat beside the Numakage as a the guard returned with the sake set, pouring both of them a cup of sake.

The two men both took their respective cup of sake and drank, downing the alcoholic drink fairly quick before setting their cups down to be refilled.

After several moments of silence between the two, Nakazo brought his arms onto the table, intertwining his fingers, and spoke, "Lord Numakage, I know the pain you're going through at the moment, not knowing the status of your daughter or her whereabouts. But, in my personal opinion, you must not coddle her, but rather trust in her to be able to perform her duties as a Kunoichi of the Hidden Marsh Village. She isn't some genin fresh from the academy, she's one of our best Ninja in all of Marsh Country."

The Numakage didn't reply at first, simply sitting there as he listened to the ANBU Commander speak. A soft sigh escaped the man as he took another sip from his sake cup.

* * *

Closing his eyes, Yukinaga then leaned back in his chair, "Why is it..." Nakazo glanced at him, "that the older generation, us, seem to just keep getting older, while the younger generation seem to do all the fighting and dying?" Nakazo had honestly never heard his Numakage speak like this before. His astonishment had kept him from answering right away, but before he could, the Numakage continued, "Personally, I think it's just plain old human greed. When we see something we want, we do whatever we can to have it." he chuckled, "To hell with everyone else." Yukinaga paused for a second as he took a sip from his sake cup, before continuing, "We do these things, often times... just horrendous things, and our children turn around and see us do it too. And they grow up being told by us that it's just simply because we say it is. Then they will turn around and go do the very same things we were doing." Glancing at Nazako, he added, "Now where's the sense in that?"

Nakazo was simply speechless as he listened to the Numakage speak. He had, in all truthfulness, never given any thought as to why humans fought one another over the various things they did. He had merely put to as the way things were. It was human nature, nothing more. There wasn't much you could do to change it.

"I couldn't honestly say, Lord Numakage. The only thing I can think of is that it's just human nature. Our children will always try to outdo their parents." he solemnly replied, as he drank his sake cup once more.

"Hmm." Was all that the Numakage spoke as he leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. Despite what Nakazo had just said, it was well know that the quality of ninjas worldwide had been diminished in comparison to their ancestors for quite some time now, a couple centuries at least. And no knew why. Some suspected it had something to do with the Great Guardian and its companions, while others had thought that Kami was punishing them for something. All that everyone knew was that something had tainted the natural flowing chakra within the world, making it harder to conjure up more advance jutsus or to even shushin normally even. S-Class and even A-Class Ninja were now a rare sight nowadays outside of the 5 Great Shinobi Nations. To this day, no-one knew why this had happened, but he knew there were numerous groups trying to solve the riddle and reverse the effects. Though Ninjas were still a significant power amongst the nations, Yukinaga knew that they all needed to step up their game if they wanted it to stay that way.

Shaking his head, he removed those thoughts from his head, his attention focused on other matters. Of all the things coursing through his mind at the moment, above all else, he wondered of his daughter's whereabouts. He prayed that she was safe. Maybe the others were right. Maybe she had gotten away and was on her way back right now. Or maybe, and he prayed he was wrong, that she had been either killed, or worse, captured.

After his wife and youngest daughter's death, he had become extremely protective over Satomi, fearing that he would lose her, too. This of course, had strained their relationship due to her feeling that he was being overbearing with her. When the Sky Village had chose to ramp up their kidnapping and assassinations, he had forbid her from leaving the village for nearly a year, before just recently allowing her to leave the village once more to conduct missions and such. Satomi, understandably, had been all to eager to get out of the village and back on missions, much to her father's worry. And now, she was missing.

No one really understood what a parent goes through until they had children of their own. It wasn't something that everyone could do. Above all else, it required a lot of patience and restraint when it came to raising a child. Most the time, all you can do is hope that you did your best and set a prime example.

Yukinaga wondered in that moment, if he had or not.

* * *

 _ **8 Miles Southeast of Yahabiro  
**_ _ **Caravan**_

Nishihara Yuyu was beyond excited. This was the first time the 6, going on 7, year old had been allowed to not only accompany her father on one of his merchant travels, but she also got to leave the village and the outside world for the first time ever. As she sat on top of her father's caravan wagon, her small purple eyes took in the sight around her as her shoulder length lavender hair blew in the wind. She looked up and saw the massive, jungle covered cliffs and mountains that rose several hundred feet up on both sides, dozens of birds flying around them. She could hear the sounds of the swampy jungle all around her as the caravan continued down the dirt road.

The other people apart of the caravan were her father, Ukyo, a half dozen of his merchant friends with their own wagons, and a company of 20 Ashigaru, with two squads of Marsh Ninja tagging along as escort. Her father had explained to her that because of bandits, they had to travel with large numbers of soldiers as protection. Yuyu didn't fully understand what a bandit was, but from what her father had told her, she didn't want to meet one.

"Papa, how much longer until we get to Has... Hashi..." the child tried to pronounce the name of the capital, only to end up pouting when she failed.

"Hashimaki." her father replied, chuckling, "And it'll be about a week before we get there."

"Are we going to use the river?" She continued asking, excited at the idea of a boat ride.

"Eventually, but not this one and not for a couple more days."

"What's it like there?"

"Well," Ukyo started, "it's really big. People are everywhere going about their lives. And there are massive buildings, hundreds of feet tall that seem to touch the sky!" he exaggerated with his arms, smiling at the look on his daughter's face. Her eyes were wide with wonder as she listened and followed the movement of his hands, her imagination running wild about what the Capital looked like.

* * *

As the group continued down the road, the guards continually stayed on alert, scanning their surroundings for anything hostile. Though none of the Bandits would dare get this close to the Hidden Marsh, the closest they had ever been spotted was some 12 miles, that didn't mean that the guards shouldn't be on alert.

The two squads of Ninja, comprised of 1 regular team and a support team, traverse through the trees, leaping from branch to branch as they surveyed the area around them for anything suspicious. Though the swamp brush was thick and hard to see through at times, a well trained eye could spot something out of place or something that seemed unusual. This could often times be the deciding factor between life and death.

One Genin in particular leapt ahead, stopping on a branch that overlooked the river and a large area further up ahead, which signified the point beyond that was considered 'Wild-Marshes', regions that were known to be infested with gangs of bandits. The Genin's eyes narrowed, knowing that once they crossed that point, they would be susceptible to attack from marauding bands, as the ANBU only patrolled some 10 miles out from the Village for signs of Bandits.

He heard the various sounds of wildlife about him as he continued to survey the area. As he glanced further down on the other side of the river, he noticed a large number of birds suddenly rose up and fly into the air, squawking and chirping in a rather panicked fashion. Despite the rather chaotic look of so many birds flying into the air, the genin noticed that they were all flying in the same direction.

"What's gotten into them?" he whispered to himself, before hearing what he could only describe as a continuous thudding sound that slowly got louder and louder as he listened.

* * *

 _ **Fireteam Whiskey/Kingpin  
Onboard UH-144, Callsign-'Gundam-Lead'  
15 miles from Hidden Marsh Village**_

The Falcon Helicopter shuddered slightly as the aircraft continued to fly over the river below. Behind it, two more Falcons followed behind in a close formation, their door gunners scanning for anything hostile. While the Falcons typically only carried five passengers, today was a special exception as each one was loaded with 7 passengers, including the one door gunner that each Falcon had. Their passengers were two 6-man Squads of UNSC Army Troopers, one 5-man Squad of ODST, Fireteam Whiskey, with Colonel Barnes attached, and Hidden Marsh Ninja Takashima Satomi.

As the Gundam-Lead's pilot swerved to the left slightly, Satomi's stomach groaned in protest as her face turned slightly blue from the nausea. Including this one, this would be the fourth time she's flown in any of the UNSC aircraft. Gripping the edges of her seat, she desperately fought off the urge to vomit, doubling over in her seat in an attempt to try and ward off what her fellow passengers called 'airsickness'. The only thing that was giving her any comfort was the fact the helmet they strapped onto her head was blocking out most of the noise this machine made as it flew.

 _'You okay?'_ She heard Colonel Barnes asked from the chair adjacent to hers.

Her stomach groaned again, _'I think I'm gonna hurl...'_ she moaned out.

Beside her, Armstrong laughed, _'Just make sure to either aim out the bird or just aim at Parker like last time.'_

 _'Fuck... You, Lydia.'_ Parker, manning one of the door guns, simply raised his middle finger back at the two. Armstrong's laughing intensified as the other two members of Fireteam Whiskey joined in.

 _'Guuuh... how much longer till we get out of this evil thing?!'_ Satomi groaned again, the blue on her face spreading slightly.

 _'Just a couple more minutes at most, miss. We're approaching the landing spot now.'_ Colonel Barnes replied, as he pulled out his datapad and looked over the map that was displayed.

 _'Excuse me, Sir? Sgt Cooper, 1st Squad. If you don't mind me asking, why exactly are we landing 10 miles away from the village? Wouldn't it be easier just to fly in and land within the village?'_ A voice belonging to one of the Army Soldiers joined in over the comms.

 _'If we did, it would freak them out and we'd likely have an entire village going up in arms against us. And that's the last thing we want at the moment. We need to establish a positive relationship with them, not scare them to where they won't talk to us.'_

 _'I think they'll be freaked out, regardless, but I guess there's some logic to it. We've already got one group of magic wielding nut-jobs pissed at us, why piss off another one?'_ Sgt Cooper replied.

 _'Exactly.'_

 _'Attention, ground troops. We are 1 Mike from landing zone. Be advised. Terrain isn't suitable for landing, bush is just too damn thick so you're gonna have to rappel down.'_

 _'That's fine, we'll manage.'_ Barnes responded as he looked over his BR-55 one more time before looking out to the ground below. He looked back at Fireteam Whiskey, _'Okay, everyone! On your feet, we're getting ready to deploy.'_

Everyone of the group, minus Satomi whose battle against nausea wasn't getting any better, stood up and gave their gear one last look over before preparing to deploy.

As the Falcons moved into position over the clearing, the soldiers inside set up the rappel ropes and prepared to jump down. The two Helos carrying the Army Squad moved in first, dropping down their ropes and had their soldiers disembark off the aircraft. The Army troops went down the ropes two by two, before establishing a perimeter within the clearing as the two Falcons cleared out for the third one to enter.

 _'Alright, remember everyone! Check your targets and think before you shoot. We're here to make friends not enemies.'_ Barnes reminded over the radio once more, as he gently grabbed Satomi and brought her close to him before grabbing the rope. Satomi's face was blue and she looked as if she was about to vomit any seconds. Barnes had her wrap her arms around him and hold on tight as he proceeded to rappel down below to the ground.

As Whiskey looked down, Rhineford received a nudge on the shoulder from Parker, who looked at him. "You ready?"

Rhineford nodded, "Yeah, let's roll."

Both men grabbed their respective ropes and rappelled down.

* * *

 **United Dominion Archives**

 **(2544 Edition)**

* * *

 **Elemental Nations**

* * *

 **Wolf Country**

Founded: 2512 TC (Terran Calendar)  
Capital: Fujisaki  
Current Daimyo: Tanji Koetsu (67 years old)

Population: 4.61 million  
Army Size: (Est.)  
35,000 Ashigaru Conscripts  
12,000 Samurai

National Ratings: (On a scale of 1-10)

Military: 3.5/10  
Economy: 4/10  
Industry: 2/10  
Infrastructure: 5/10  
Population: 2/10

Total Rating: (Out of 50)  
16.5/50

* * *

 **Geography**

Climate: Temperate  
Dominant Biomes:  
Temperate Forest  
Grassland

Average High/Low Temperatures:  
(Summer) October: 83°F  
(Winter) March: 21°F

Highest Elevation:  
965 meters (3,116 Feet)  
Jin-Sun Cliffs

Lowest Elevation:  
-221 meters (725 Feet)  
Mei-Jing Canyon

* * *

 **Country Bio:** Wolf Country was born out of the fires of the Second Shinobi World War (2506-2512) following the collapse of the Sky Empire. Like its parent country, Wolf Country's infrastructure largely survived the war, which helped the country recover from the devastation faster than its neighbors. While economics and infrastructure may not be a problem, Wolf Country's government most certainly is. Corruption is reported to be widespread with the country, with bribery, kidnappings, rape, and even murder being supposedly common place within the politics of the country. Some believe the country is no more than a puppet state for Sky Country until they can return to prominence.

While most dismiss the claim, what is notable odd is that despite rebelling and seceding from the Sky Country, their relations with them are surprisingly friendly, with both countries assisting each other numerous times throughout the 30 years of Wolf Country's existence, while often times giving the cold shoulder or just being outright hostile to other nations that were once a part of the Sky Empire. And though the country has no Ninja force of its own, they have allowed the Sky Ninja free reign in their territory, further adding to the complexion that Wolf Country may in fact be nothing but a puppet state, waiting for its master to return to power.

Today, Wolf Country is considered a regional power in the Eastern Shinobi Lands, rivaled only by the Sky and Marsh Countries. Yet, they appear to be more than content with trading with everyone rather than fighting them, garnering up their small but growing economy with trade from overseas. Time will tell for what is in store for Wolf Country as the Eastern Nations appeared to gear up for war once more.

* * *

/-\

\\-/

* * *

 **Water Country**

Founded: 2260 TC (Terran Calendar)  
Capital: Soukita  
Current Daimyo: Kurokawa Mashiro (70 years old)

Population: 13.5 million*  
Army Size: (Est.)  
100,000 Ashigaru Conscripts*  
46,000 Samurai*

National Ratings: (On a scale of 1-10)

Military: 6/10  
Economy: 5/10  
Industry: 5/10  
Infrastructure: 6/10  
Population: 5/10

Total Rating: (Out of 50)  
27/50

*Note that figures are pre-war estimates of total population combined, due to the Civil War taking place.

* * *

 **Geography**

Climate: Subtropical  
Dominant Biomes:  
Cloud Forest  
Wetland  
Grassland

Average High/Low Temperatures:  
(Summer) October: 84°F  
(Winter) March: 37°F

Highest Elevation:  
1,936 meters (6,351 Feet)  
Chénshuì de Jùrén

Lowest Elevation:  
-56 meters (183 Feet)  
Kikomara Lowlands

* * *

 **Hidden Mist Village**

Founded: 2420 TC (Terran Calendar)  
Current Mizukage: Ikoma Yagura/4th Mizukage\ (15 years old)

Village Population: 55,000*  
Shinobi Force Size: (Est.)  
12,000 Shinobi*

Village Ratings: (On a scale of 1-10)

Military: 6/10  
Economy: 5/10  
Industry: 5.5/10  
Infrastructure: 6/10  
Population: 5/10

Total Rating: (Out of 50)  
27.5/50

*Note that figures are pre-war estimates of total population combined, due to the Civil War taking place.

* * *

 **Country Bio:** The infamy of the 'Bloody Hidden Mist' is one known far and wide to the people of the Shinobi Nations. Water Country has long since been a country held under suspicion by its neighbors, due to its willingness to partake in acts considered barbaric by the rest of the Shinobi Nations. Founded in 2260 during a time of war between numerous states, Water Country was forced from its inception to more or less either fight or die as every nation around it was fighting for territory and resources.

Desperate to ensure their survival, Water Country initiated a number of reforms within the government and their military, such as universal conscription and lowering of the conscription age from 16 to 14. Another practice that made them notorious early on was the practice of what they called "The Warrior's Will" where new trainees would be forced to brutally fight one another, sometimes to the death, in order to become soldiers, and often times just to survive. Despite the barbarity of the practice, the tactics and reforms worked, allowing Water Country to defeat their neighbors and dominate the Central Island Chain.

After succeeding in taking over the island chain and achieving peace for their lands, Water Country went about on numerous projects to improve the land and increase the wealth of the newly formed nation, such as developing numerous farmlands or creating more port towns. This continued for roughly a century and a half, before war reared its head once more at Water Country. Lightning Country, looking to expand their power and size, looked at Water Country as their next victim. Water Country's location was ideal, as the island chain was situated right in the middle of the Elemental Nations, making it a perfect staging point to invade any other part of the continent.

War broke out in 2440, as Lightning Country launches and amphibious invasion of the northern part of Water Country. Though the attack caught the country off guard, the invaders were quickly repelled within a month due to the sheer ferocity and ruthlessness of the defenders. For the next 3 years, the war was largely one fought on the seas by the two factions' navies, as well as their associates and allies. As the fight dragged on, large portions of the economy were shifted to focus on the military, both sides hoping to gain an edge over the other. Both countries developed their own hidden villages decades prior, but had yet have a significant use for them until the war broke out. Ninja from both sides proved invaluable as their presence often times decided the fate of entire battles throughout the war. By 2444, however, the war was but a stalemate and both sides agreed that the fighting was going nowhere. By mid-2444, a ceasefire and follow up peace treaty had been signed, though tension between the two would remain.

By 2475, relations had deteriorated with their 'ally' the Sky Country. Water Country put more focus on their Shinobi and Military in the case of a possible conflict, which seemed more and more likely with each passing month. The brutality of their training regimes were notorious and infamous throughout the Elemental Nations, with some historians estimate that the training regimes and academies for the Hidden Mist Shinobi often times averaged 30% mortality rate. Despite this, the Hidden Mist would go on to tie with the Hidden Leaf of having the 3rd largest Ninja Army in the Elemental Nations by the time the First Shinobi World War (2486-2492) broke out.

When the war finally broke out, Water Country was one of the hardest hit, as it faced attack from a resurgent Sky Empire as well as Lightning Country, who were looking for some payback for the Lightning-Water War. For the first 2 years of the war, Water Country and the Hidden Mist were fighting on their home turf, attempting to drive out the invaders. The turning point in the campaign was the Battle of Okuhara, where the 10,000 strong Water Army along with some 3,000 Hidden Mist Ninja, engaged and drove back the attacking Sky Army, which numbered some 18,000. The Sky Army was virtually annihilated, suffering some 85% casualties, and had comprised of some 60% of all Sky forces in Water Country. This loss had forced the Sky Empire to pull out of the Water Country altogether. Many historians agree that this key moment in the campaign stopped the entire Sky Empire Campaign in the Southern Nations altogether as their supply lines were now threatened by a resurgent and vengeful Water Country. The war would end some 3 years later, with Water Country gaining several of the smaller islands off its southern coast.

Water Country and the Hidden Mist Village would go on to participate in the the 3rd Shinobi World War (2528-2540) in a sort of loose coalition against Fire Country and its Hidden Leaf Village, in largely ended in a victory for Fire Country but not necessarily a defeat for Water Country. However, it's agreed upon by many that events that occurred in the war are what led to Mist Civil War just 2 years later in 2542. After the war, following the death of the 3rd Mizukage, Ikoma Yagura was named the 4th Mizukage. Almost immediately, the new Mizukage instituted a reign of terror, ordering purges of entire clans with a Kekkei Genkai. The Academies, who had already had a bloody reputation for their mortality rate, had stricter rules and regulations put in place per Yagura's orders, including that every student had to kill one of their classmates in one on one combat in order to graduate. The mortality rate rose from an 'average' of 30% to over 50-55%. The village was outraged by so many of their genin being killed before they even had a chance to become shinobi, but Yagura had the ANBU keep everyone in line, albeit through fear.

Sonoda Ao, a veteran and well respected ninja of the Hidden Mist, finally discovered in 2542 that the 4th Mizukage, Ikoma Yagura, was being manipulated by someone and was being more or less ordered to do some of the horrendous things that had transpired. Who, is unknown to this day. With this final revelation, the village, and soon after the entire country, went in full revolt. The Mist Civil War (2542-ongoing) had begun.

Today the country is divided and war torn, with the various Ninja and Peasant Rebel factions, loosely united under a common enemy, the Daimyo's Samurai army, who are attempting to fully purge the Hidden Mist altogether in hopes of just starting over, and those Ninja and Samurai loyal to Yagura's Regime, all of which are fighting for control of the country. Though many nations would love to either rid themselves of the Hidden Mist or take over the land for themselves, none have dared make a move beyond supplying one of the three factions with money, weapons, and sometimes mercenaries. Many are terrified of the prospect of invading the land, failing, and having to deal with a resurgent and vengeful Water Country afterwards, regardless of whoever wins. Most, however, feel that the cost, in both lives and money, is just simply not worth it to take over or even wipe out Water Country, due to the well known and rather infamous tenacity of both Water Samurai and Hidden Mist Ninja.

While the United Dominion has an official no interference policy regarding Water Country and its Civil War, increasing numbers of attacks on Dominion Ships passing through the region have had some evidence pointing towards Yagura's Regime and the Daimyo's Forces being responsible. If these attacks continue, many agree that the Dominion will likely have no choice but to intervene. That, however, remains to be seen.

* * *

 **Dear... God... This has to be the longest chapter I've written so far. 25,085 words. Oh my god this took like 4-5 months! Well, part of that was due to me shifting focus on Halo-Mass Effect: Altered Destiny and trying to get it finished up. (Only has 1 more chapter before I start working on Book 2, but that won't be until mid-late 2016.) Another couple of things that slowed me down was just flat out life and work getting in the way, and the Paris Attacks that happened back in November. After seeing alot of the videos that were posted showing the attack, I just lost alot of drive to write for a good couple weeks at least.**

 **I don't know if anybody here was there or had family that was there at the time, but if you did and you ended up losing somebody there, you have my condolences and sympathies. Sometimes, people can be just flat-out evil and horrific over the stupidest things. I hate it.**

 **As I read through the reviews for this story, I saw that it was largely down the middle. Either people liked it or they just weren't sure it would work out. For those of you doubting, I don't blame you. These are two universes that are vastly different from one another, and don't seem like two that would go well together. That being said, sometimes these pairing have worked and went on to be incredible, ie A Spartan Amongst Shinobi. (I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I've heard it's great.) All I ask merely is that you give this story a chance and be honest in your reviews, whether it be positive or negative. As I've stated in my other stories, I always welcome constructive criticism.**

 **Also, if you have any ideas or suggestions, by all means feel free to pm me and let me hear them out. I always reply back.**

 **And finally, as for whether or not a third universe will be added in or not, I can't say for certain just yet, but it may be happening. We'll just see how this goes. That being said, if it does end up happening, I already have a backstory for it to explain how it intertwines with the other two.**

 **As always, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Leave a review on what your thoughts were about it, and I'll see you next time!**

 **-Azores**


	4. Prologue Arc: Episode 3

**Hey guys, Azores here. Just wanted to say a couple of things before the chapter starts.**

 **First off, I apologize that this took so long to get out. I've honestly lost alot of my drive to write lately. If anyone has any suggestions on how I can try to get it back, I'd greatly appreciate it. (Music used to work, but it's now mostly just distracting or reduced to a few songs that don't work as well as they used to.)**

 **Second, I know I made some suggestions saying I was going to do so, but after some consideration, I've decided that I'm not going to make this a three-way crossover story. While I already have the story down as to how they'll interconnect and fit into each other's' respective universes, I feel like I'm going to be over complicating the story. I will, eventually, make another story combining Naruto and this universe (Secret, for now :p) to show what I had in mind for this story regarding the third universe. (8/16/2016 as of now that story had been uploaded and is being worked on. It's called G-N: Age of Monsters.)**

 **Thanks for your patience, and as always, hope you enjoy!**

 **-Azores**

* * *

 **Queue in Intro Music!**

 **'You Know My Name'-By Chris Cornell (Vocals of Soundgarden and Audioslave)**

 **(I think that each 'Arc' is gonna have its own theme music. Like the Prologue Arc, 'You Know My Name'. Haven't decided yet, let me know your thoughts on it!)**

* * *

 **I don't Halo or Naruto.**

 **Bold-My Own Words**

 ** _Bold & Italic-Locations, Time & Calendar_**

Normal-Narrative

"Normal"-Person Speaking

'Normal'-Thoughts

 _"Italic"-Foreign Languague_

 _'Italic'-Radio Chatter_

 _/Italic\\-AI/Computer typing_

* * *

-They told me to fight, and that's what I've done. Let historians sort through the wreckage, bodies, and broken lives to figure out the rest.

 **Vice Admiral Preston Cole, Personal Diary, 2532, Following the Harvest Campaign**

-The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.

 **Sun Tzu, The Art of War**

-It is not in the stars to our destiny, but in ourselves.

 **William Shakespeare**

* * *

 **Prologue Arc-Episode 3  
-Making Friends (P.1)-  
(Part 3)**

 _ **June 24, 2543  
Sky Country  
**_ _ **Kenhaba**_

The Sky Country. Once the homeland of a mighty empire, now nothing more than a shadow of its former self. Following the collapse of the empire in 2512, the entire Eastern Continent went into a economic depression and sheer chaos as the infrastructure of the former empire collapse and fell into disrepair, the trade routes now plagued by roving bands of bandits and pirates, many of which creating their own little criminal fiefdoms. In the wake of the empire's collapse, numerous groups not only sought to carve out their own little pieces of the dying empire, but also stake their claim on the Sky Homeland as well. Numerous factions and clans rose up, claiming to be the legitimate successors to the throne in the wake of the former Daimyo and Sukaikage's deaths. Fights and clashes erupted throughout the country, with many fearing it to be the end of their nation altogether.

For the past 30 years, Sky Country had been picking up the pieces of its shattered domain, rebuilding its shattered infrastructure and economy, purging any criminal elements within their remaining lands, and working to secure as much of their old territory as possible. In the wake of the empire's fall, however, a new order had risen within the Sky Country. Though on the outside and to the public eye, it would appear that the Daimyo and the Sukaikage share power as heads of the state, the reality was far from it.

While dictatorships and nationalism were nothing new to the Elemental Nations, the idea of fascism was.

In 2520, when the country seemed destined to collapse and fade into obscurity, salvation seemed to arrive, in the form of a 21 year old former ANBU Captain named Miura Kenji. For the past 23 years, he had lead the crippled nation and got it back into working order. Restoring the country's economy and securing the lands within its borders from the bandits and dissident factions within. Neither of which was an easy task, nor was the subsequent war with the Fiefdom called the Land of Bird.

Though no a tall or imposing man, standing at only 5'8" and weighing roughly 150 pounds, he made up for this with two key traits. The first being that he was an experienced soldier with numerous battles against Rebel and Criminal Factions under his belt, having been fighting and killing enemies of the empire since he was 11.

The second trait that he had was that he had was the ability to give rousing speeches. Despite being somewhat short in stature for a man, his voice during his speeches was thunderous and almost theatrical, sending the crowds into an almost spellbound captivation. Such speeches that were capable of sending any crowd into a frenzy of pride and nationalism.

And today was no different.

* * *

 _ **Kenhaba**_ _ **Central Plaza Square  
Daimyo Palace  
**_

Miura Kenji, Sukiakage of the Sky Nation, stepped out onto the castle deck, flanked by several of his elite 'Iron Guard', standing by to protect their leader. As Miura looked out to the streets below him, he could see the nearly 40,000 strong crowd gathered before the Daimyo Palace as they roared with thunderous applause and cheers as they stood before the palace and the surrounding streets, awaiting for their leader to give the national address that they've awaited for all year. Their cheers seemed to increase tenfold as he smiled and waved down to the crowd below.

He then moved his hand downward, the crowd quieting as they anxiously waited for their Kage to speak. An Iron Guard member stepped forward and placed down a seal on the podium, designed to project and amplify the Kage's voice so that the crowd, and the entire city, could hear his speech loud and clear, though not to the point to wear it would deafen anyone. Finishing his work, the Guardsman gave the Kage a nod signalling that the seal was active, before falling back into formation.

* * *

Stepping forward onto the podium, Miura cleared his throat as he began his speech.

"THE GREAT EPOCH... in which for twenty-three years we have awaited has now begun. Our glorious Empire is about to be reborn..."

* * *

The crowd's reaction was instantaneous, as their roars and cheers of approval seemed to shake the very foundations of the city. Smiling, the Kage continued his speech.

* * *

"I can say with pride, my brothers and sisters, is that if the whole empire had possessed the spirit which is in us now, then our great empire would have never fallen. Even without arms or hordes of men at its call, the Sky Country represents an unheard-of strength through this inner will tempered like steel. It is true that this equality which is realized in you was realized only during a time of great peril for our nation. We have, too, adopted the principle of leadership, the conception of authority, at the time in which corrupt and manipulative leaders took over for their own greedy gains, who looked only to advance their own agendas, regardless of whether or not it tore our kingdom apart."

"That was a heavy sacrifice at a time when the whole people was running after the illusion of peace and stability, when millions believed that the majority was the source of a right decision, during a time in which rebel factions and criminal elements were tearing our empire apart and picked away at its lands to set up their own little fiefdoms. It was at this time that my fellow patriots and I began resolutely to build up an organization in which there was not one patriot but thousands. When our opponents said: 'It is easy for you: you are a dictator'- we answered them, 'No, gentlemen, you are wrong; there are no dictators among us, but ten thousand patriots, each in his own place.' And even the highest authority in the hierarchy has itself only one wish, never to transgress against the State to which it, too, is responsible for."

* * *

Cheers continued to rain out as the Sukaikage continued his speech.

* * *

"For twenty-three years, we fought tooth and nail; shed blood, sweat, and tears to bring our country back from the brink of annihilation. Clearing out the rebels, criminals, and pirates that had rooted themselves in our lands, looking to exploit our resources, rape our women and take our children for their own nefarious ends. For twenty-three years, we fought back against the hordes of thieves and backstabbers who looked to rob us of everything we held dear. AND FOR TWENTY-THREE YEARS, WE FOUGHT FOR OUR COUNTRY'S VERY SOUL!"

* * *

He slammed his fist hard on the podium, cries of approval roaring in as the crowd took in his every word.

* * *

"And in those twenty-three years we have also fostered the virtues of bravery, patriotism, and sheer selfless sacrifice to our nation's future. Today thousands pour into the ranks of our army, looking to help defend our nation as it is guided into the future. But the greater part of them must learn now what this grand army has practiced for years; they must all learn to face what tens of thousands of our comrades have faced, and have paid for with their blood, their lives. We have succeeded out of our own free wills in once more inculcating in our people the courage which dares to attempt a task in the face of a world of foes."

"We have won back control in our homeland, and now it is up to us to win back the lands of our former empire, to incorporate the people back into our empire. We must build the tens of thousands of working men and women of all classes into a close community. This is a struggle which will again take years; but it is necessary if the three million people of today are some day to be the six, eight, ten and millions more we need. Here, too, we know that if we rest, we rust, that if we stand still, we will retreat..."

"In the past, you chose to trust me and the Daimyo in leading this nation of our back from the brink. If in the future you continue to stand behind us as one people, one voice, in loyalty and obedience, then i swear to you, no power in the world will be able to destroy this nation of ours. It will continue its victorious course. If you preserve the same discipline, the same obedience, the same comradeship and the same unbounded patriotism in our nation's future - then nothing will ever extinguish the flame of this glorious country. This is the request I make of you, for myself and in the name of all the comrades who are no longer among us..."

"People of the Sky Nation, my brothers and sisters, today is the day that the Sky Empire is REBORN!"

* * *

The moment Miura thrusted his hands into the air at the end of his speech, the crowd below went wild. The sheer feeling of pride and a return to greatness was simply overwhelming and contagious. People in the streets chanted the Sukaikage's name or their homeland's as it the cheering went on. It seemed as though the entire city was roaring in unision.

The Sukaikage waved down to the masses, as a Shinobi came running up from behind and began to whisper in his ear. Leaning in to listen, Miura's reaction initially went from pleased to confused as the Shinobi spoke to him, to finally anger when he finished. Mindful of where he was though, he quickly regained his composure and smiled down to the crowd, who were still cheering, as he waved them off and signalled a Shinobi to take over the podium to continue on with the rest of the day's events. When asked what to tell the crowd regarding his sudden departure, Miura told him to inform the crowd that a small inconvenience had rose up that required his attention, but that he would be back soon enough. As he quickly walked back into the Daimyo Palace, the same Shinobi who had informed him walked beside him.

"Somebody better have a damn good explanation for this!" He growled as they proceeded to Sukiakage's Office.

* * *

 _ **Daimyo Palace  
**_ _ **Sukaikage's Office**_

Soga Kotaro and Yasuda Tetsuo, two of the surviving members of the Task Force sent to retrieve Numakage's daughter, Takashima Satomi, were seated and waiting for their Kage's arrival. Kiyabu Hideo and the other two surviving members, per Kotaro's insistence, was being kept at one of the local Hospital in order to have a physical examination and psych evaluation done on them. Per protocol, Kotaro had written a report and sent it up to the Sukaikage's Office ahead of their arrival. As he expected, however, they order that he and Tetsuo were to report to the Sukaikage in order to give a debriefing on what all had transpired on the mission.

As well as to explain why only 5 people out of a task force of 120 had returned from what should have been a simple retrieval mission.

Knowing the Kage's temperament and somewhat skeptic, or paranoid to some, nature, Kotaro knew that the Sukaikage wasn't going to believe his report or their story without proof. All the more reason he was glad he had manage to acquire a few examples of these new people's armor and weapons. Hell, he wouldn't have believed it unless he had seen it with his own two eyes.

He noticed to his left that his fellow survivor was glancing around nervously at the Iron Guardsmen standing post in the room. Unlike most guardsmen for Daimyos, they had a good reason to be nervous around them. The Iron Guard wasn't some glorified post for soldiers who knew how to kiss ass, though there were those in every army. Iron Guardsmen are only selected from the best of the best amongst the Samurai of Sky Country. They're continuously and rigorously trained throughout their service as an Iron Guard, not only that, they're completely loyal to the leaders of the Sky Country, namely the Sukaikage. They're sub-branch, the Iron Shadow, who were comprised of the best amongst Sky Country's Shinobi, were even more rigorously trained and dedicated to the Sky Nation. Worst, they were the ones who made people disappear if they did something they weren't supposed to, such as 'endangering the security of the Sky Nation'.

Though he wasn't allowed to tell anyone, Kotaro had actually been offered a position within the Iron Guard, in recognition of his skills, but declined. Another thing that wasn't largely known was that the Iron Guard rarely left the confines of the country's borders, only doing so when it was deemed that only they would be capable of getting the job done. Their own mission to nab the Numakage's daughter had been the center of such a debate, but obviously they were considered unnecessary.

The Sukiakage was probably regretting that decision right now.

Another Guardsman came into the room, then turned to address the team, "The Sukiakage will be up here momentarily. You best have your report ready to present." Kotaro simply nodded at the Guardsman as he turned to leave, leaving the group to wait on their Kage once more.

"K-Kotaro-sama?" Kotaro turned to look at Tetsuo, who was sitting next to him, "What?"

"What are we going to do? I-I don't think the Sukiakage will believe us." He could tell Tetsuo was a nervous wreck, he couldn't imagine any genin who wouldn't be in their predicament.

"Normally, I'd agree twerp." Kotaro replied, "Hell, I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. But luckily for us, we have proof to back us up. Even if they don't believe the story, they can't discredit the weapons and armor we were able to snag before retreating."

"Yeah, but what if that isn't enough?! What if they decide to just kill us for-"

"Enough!" Kotaro finally snapped, his patience wearing out, "Right now, panicking about what might or might not happen isn't going to help. You're just going to have to trust me on this so that we get out of this. Considering they actually know who I am and that I have a solid record, my voice will hold some weight with them. So when the time comes, just sit there, shut up, and let me do the talking!" His glare silenced any further protest or argument from the boy. He could understand what the kid was going through, but right now freaking out wasn't going to help them.

Outside the doors, they suddenly heard the sound of several footsteps coming towards the doors, meaning only one thing. Steeling their nerves, they mentally prepared themselves as the Sukiakage entered the room, flanked by four of his Iron Shadow Guardsmen.

* * *

 _ **July 14, 2543  
Marsh Country  
Roughly 10 miles outside of Hidden Marsh Village  
Fireteam Whiskey/Kingpin**_

The Falcons thundered away as the UNSC ground contingency spread out across the clearing, going either into a prone or crouched position and forming a perimeter around the site. Colonel Barnes looked around the perimeter to see if everyone was in position. After waiting for a few moments to see if anything was going to respond to their little insertion, he was satisfied enough to finally give the order, "Okay, gentlemen. On your feet, we're moving out!"

The Marines and Army Soldiers replied as they all rose up and moved towards the dirt road, in the center of the clearing. "Alright, maintain a good patrol formation and watch your sectors. Check your fire before you decide to shoot. Remember, we're here on diplomatic duties, so keep the fingers off the triggers." Barnes called out as he glanced back, "Alright, Miss Satomi. Lead the way."

"Uh... sir?"

The Colonel turned around to see Lance Corporal Rhineford and PFC Armstrong standing over Takashima Satomi, who was lying facedown on the ground hugging a log. "Oh." The Colonel spoke, sweat-dropping.

"Ohhhhh... Hello, sweet merciful ground. I've missed you so much. I'll never take you for granted again." Satomi groaned out, sounding half delirious as she did. Rhineford knelt down and hesitantly patted her on the back. "Come on, now. Surely it wasn't that bad?" Rhineford questioned. He immediately flinched back some, remembering what happened to Parker last week, as a fierce growl coming from her stomach, followed by another groan from Satomi that answered his question. "...Alright, then." He sweatdropped.

"She okay?"

"Airsickness must of not fully left her body, yet. I say we should give her a couple minutes before trying to move out." Armstrong said as she examined the Marsh Kunoichi.

"That might not be a good idea. Somebody in the village was bound to have seen our birds coming in, or at the least heard 'em. We should go ahead and proceed on mission and get to the village before they decide to send out a welcome committee like we had back at Kaizuko Island." Sgt Cooper spoke up, glancing over to the group before resuming to scan the road.

"Alright, then. Mr. Rhineford, please pick up Ms. Satomi and we'll continue on towards the Village."

"..."

"Mr. Rhineford, is there a problem?"

Rhineford stared at the Kunoichi beneath him, who was looking up and glaring at him, as if daring him to try and touch her. Even with his armor on, those punches of her's hurt like hell, and he wasn't looking for an excuse to receive one.

"Uh... well..."

"Mr. Rhineford, if there isn't a problem, then pick her up and let's go."

Rhineford sighed, knowing he didn't really have a choice. In truth, he knew he was lucky above all else. If the situation had been different, that stunt he had pulled rescuing Satomi would have likely seen him either getting a dishonorable discharge or a firing squad. The only reason he had gotten off easy was because at the moment, they couldn't afford to toss away a soldier, even if he failed to follow orders. They needed all the trained personnel they could get. That being said, it would like be years before he would be given a chance at leading a squad again.

* * *

"Alright, come here." He began to approached.

"Touch me and I swear I'll kill you, Rhineford!" Satomi growled out as she slowly got up, taking several deep breaths as she stood up. The Marines around her were somewhat hesitant to approach at first, most of them not wanting to get potentially puked on.

"Are you okay?" Barnes asked.

"I'll get over it. Let's just go." Satomi waved him off as she stood straight up, the feeling of discomfort from the terrible flight subsiding. As she walked past the two Marines, they simply looked at one another and shrugged, before walking towards the road themselves. "Okay, folks. Let's go."

* * *

 ** _8 miles outside of Hidden Marsh Village_**

"So, excited to see home again?" Rhineford asked Satomi as the group continued down the road towards the Hidden Marsh Village. The 18-man team of ODST and Army Troopers were spread out in a staggered column going down the road on either side of it as they continued towards the village. Satomi was next to Rhineford, who was at the front of the column.

"After a month of having to live around you weirdoes, absolutely." Satomi half-joked. Rhineford mocked being hurt by the statement, "Oh, come on. It wasn't that bad."

What he got was a deadpan look back at him, as Satomi remembered everything she saw and experienced in her time amongst the 'Terrans'. While some of those moments weren't bad, other had been just plain weird for her to witness.

* * *

 _ **Flashbacks Begin  
June 11, 2543  
UNSC Everest**_

She stared silently out the window, looking down at the planet below that was her home. She had been brought up here, albeit reluctantly on her part, and examined by several medics to make sure she was okay, followed up by a shower. She still had on the grey Marine fatigues that had been given to her. Staring down to the planet below, Satomi's mind just simply couldn't process the image before her. She wasn't anywhere near home, she wasn't even on her home anymore, and that terrified her. Yet, at the same time, this was strangely one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen, looking down at her homeworld.

"You never do forget the first time you see your home from orbit." She jumped at the voice, and immediately turned around to confront it. An older woman walked up to her, while a half dozen other people walked into the small room as well and took a seat at the table that was in the room. Each of them had one of those 'Data-pads' she saw Rhineford and Barnes messing with. The older woman walked up to her and extended her hand in greeting, "Hi, I'm Lyrenne Castilla. I'm one of the various representatives for our group." She said with a small smile.

Hesitantly, Satomi shook the woman's hand. "I... guess you already know my name."

"Yes, Colonel Barnes already submitted a report about everything that happened, though even if he hadn't we could still see everything happening from up here if needed. But, since everything's calmed down on the surface, we wanted to meet you in person." Lyrenne gestured to the table where everyone had taken a seat. "Care to sit? We'll probably be here for a little bit."

Satomi wanted to say no and just go home, but in all likelihood she probably didn't have a choice. Granted, they had been nothing but courteous and polite with her, but that didn't mean she would just automatically trust them. As the old saying goes, "If the barbarians at the gate don't get you, the snake in the grass will." Question was, though, was she dealing with a barbarian, a snake, or neither? Satomi merely nodded and walked with Lyrenne to the table, where they both took a seat.

"Good day, Miss Takashima. I would like to be the first to apologize that we met under such circumstances. I'm certain you have a ton of questions and have very little trust of us at the moment. And I assure you, any and all questions that you have will be answered to the best of our abilities." A middle aged African spoke as the two women seated, "My name is Doctor Richard Fraser, I was formerly the governor of a colony called Alluvion, before it was sadly destroyed."

Destroyed? She ask about it later. "... Hi." Satomi replied, "So, any questions, huh?" Might as well get the obvious ones out of the way, "Who are you and why are you here?"

Lyrenne, Doctor Fraser, and a military commander who called himself Vice Admiral Preston Cole, proceeded to explain the history of the UEG and the UNSC, from its founding, to their first venture into the stars. They talked about the Insurrection and the decades of conflict that threatened to erupt into full fledge civil war. Satomi could see from the looks in their eyes there were still loyalties to both the 'UNSC' and 'URF'. Finally, they spoke about their first encounter with aliens, and the resulting war that followed, and all the events that led up to this moment. For roughly a quarter hour, they talked and answered all of her questions to the best of their abilities.

 **(If I were to go into detail about this whole conversation regarding the UNSC's History, I'd have spent half the chapter on it, and this would have ended up another 18-20,000+ word epic. To sum it up it, Cole, Lyrenne and the other Terrans basically explain to Satomi 'modern Terran history', from the founding of the UN (1945) and UNSC (2163) to the Human-Covenant War up to that point. For the sake of the story, I've chosen to skip past it. You can look up the history of the UNSC and URF on Halopedia if you're interested.)**

"So, let me get this straight. You're all basically a bunch of refugees or deserters who decided to join together and run away in order to survive this... Covenant. And now, you've decided that the only way to survive is to come here and take over our home?" Satomi asked, somewhat agitatedly. Even if they were running, they way they explained what they were doing here made it sound like they were planning to conquer her home.

"Take over? No, we didn't even know about your people or this planet until about 5 years ago. And even then, it was by a complete accident. Believe me, we were just as confused when we learned we weren't the only humans in the galaxy." Lyrenne answered. "But, the discovery of another group of human beings had provided us with a unique opportunity that we just couldn't possibly pass up."

"You want to unify a dozen different cultures that have historically either distrust or outright hated one another for hundreds of years?" Satomi couldn't help but chuckle, "Look I'm no historian or expert in the mindset of people, but good luck."

"Actually, your people's culture isn't actually all that dissimilar from one another. Granted, location and geography have caused your people to develop a slight difference in certain areas, but overall the cultures and language of the elemental nations, from what we've gathered is largely the same." Doctor Fraser countered, gesturing with his hands as if to emphasize his point, "We understand this isn't something that would happen overnight. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if this endeavor takes years or even decades to accomplish, especially in regards to other continents such as... what was it called?" He tapped his data-pad's touchscreen and looked over the files and notes he had on it regarding Shinsei and its people. "Ah, here we go. Esura. Yes, the eastern continent of Esura and its various people will probably add another decade or two to the whole mission, if that. But, an impossible mission? Not at all. Our own homeworld, which is home to hundreds of different cultures, religions, and even dialects, took several centuries to finally unify, and many thought it wasn't possible. But yet, despite all the hurdles and challenges along the way, it still eventually unified as the UEG."

"And where exactly do I fit in all this? Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that you saved my life, but I doubt you merely did it out of the goodness of your hearts." She accused. She had been honest about her gratitude towards saving her life, but she had no intention of becoming a puppet or a traitor to her home.

"That's very simple. We didn't." Cole finally spoke for the first time in a while, his eyes narrowing at her in annoyance, "I personally gave the order not to interfere whatsoever. If then-Corporal Rhineford hadn't disobeyed my order; which in any other circumstance he would have been court-marshalled and shot for because of the outcome, which led to 28 Marines dying by the way; you'd probably be on your way to the Sky Nation or whatever it calls itself right now, among other things that would have likely happened to you."

That stopped any bit of argument in her that she had at the moment. Rhineford and his team hadn't been ordered to rescue her? In truth, she shouldn't be surprised. What did they possibly have to gain over rescuing some random woman in their eyes? But she hadn't heard or known that, her ears had still been ringing on and off from the airstrike when Barnes demoted Rhineford, and none of them had said anything to her about it. But now knowing that Rhineford risked not only his life, but severe punishment from his leaders, to save her by disobeying orders, she couldn't help but feel slightly guilty towards him for being as hostile as she had initially been. She would have to properly thank him for doing so when she saw him again. If she did.

"Miss Takashima, we want you to understand something. You are by no means our prisoner. If you wish to return home, then we will be more than willing to assist you in returning home. We would just like to hear our proposal first before making your decision." Doctor Fraser followed up, trying to get back on subject and lower some of the tension. Satomi noticed that Lyrenne was glaring slightly at Cole.

Satomi look around the room at the 10 other people that were in the room with her, pondering and thinking, before responding, "And what proposal is that?"

"We want both of our people to get a better understanding of one another, and history has shown that the best way to do so is through direct interaction. Therefore, we would like to offer you to stay amongst us for a month. Live amongst us. Interact, socialize, and learn about our people, so that when you return home, you can tell your people about us and everything that you witness during your time amongst us." Dr. Fraser explained.

They wanted her to stay and live amongst them? That surprised her. However, they could be just wanting to keep an eye on her, or draw her into a false sense of security so they could manipulate her or interrogate her. She mentally shook herself, if they were going to interrogate her, they would have probably done it already. Plus, it seemed like they honestly didn't need to as they could likely find whatever info they were looking for with all this weird little gadgets of theirs. As she summed up her options, she couldn't help but agree that the amount of information she could gain would be incredibly useful, especially if they didn't turn out to be as truthful as they claimed on their intentions. At the very least, she could gain more Intel on a potential threat for the sake of her homeland. If it did turn out to be so, however, then she would have to find a way to get back to her homeland in order to warn them.

But in the meantime, since they seemed so desperate for friends, she might as well play the system some.

After feigning thinking it over for some time, she looked back to the group and gave her answer, "If I agree to it, then you must promise a couple things in return."

Dr. Fraser smiled, "Understandable. Name them."

"First off, when this is over, you'll develop close ties with my homeland, including a trade agreement and a defensive alliance. The Sky Nation wants to enslave my home, and I'll be damn if I'm not going to do something that could help us."

Fraser's smile faltered slightly as his eyes widen some, "I, well... I can't guarantee that will be doable at the moment. We're still getting our own government formed and sorted-"

"Done."

Too everyone's surprise, it was Admiral Cole that had said that. Fraser seemed unsure if such a decision was a good idea, especially since they were still forming their government. They haven't even decided on a name. Lyrenne seemed surprised at Cole. She knew that eventually they would need to gain friends and allies amongst the people here, but to do it so soon, especially when they didn't exactly have a good idea as to who was who exactly in these lands...

"What is your other request? Cole asked.

"Well, I doubt that you would just let me roam freely around all of your... stuff."

"Naturally."

"Well, if that's the case, then-"

"Fireteam Whiskey, Rhineford's squad, will be assigned as your chaperones. As a condition to be here, you will stay within their sight and company at all times. Now naturally, for security reasons, there are certain parts of the ship that you won't be allowed access to, but your restrictions will be largely light." Cole answered. Satomi blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected him to agree so readily, and apparently a majority of everyone else in the room didn't either. Cole seemed to read her mind, and spoke, "It's like you said, Dr. Fraser. We'll eventually need friends amongst the populace if we want any progress to be made. Might as well start as early as we can and show the people of this that not only are we serious about the idea of a unified world, but that we also have their best interest at heart. Otherwise, they'll never take us seriously or trust us."

'So you've already come to your own decision on the matter, huh, Preston?' Lyrenne pondered as she stared at her ex-husband.

"Well, if that is everything, then I believe that we should have somebody show you to your quarters, unless you have some more questions, Miss Satomi." Lyrenne finished, looking to the Marsh Kunoichi as she did so.

Satomi thought about it, but merely shrugged, "Not anything else at the moment." In truth, she still had plenty of questions, but these all could be answered at a latter time. "One more thing, Miss Satomi." Dr. Fraser inquired, causing her to pause as she stood up, "While some of our customs and practice may seem normal to you, there may be others that may seem odd to you. I felt that this should have been made known to you before you began to intermingle with our people."

Satomi smiled and snorted in amusement, "Thanks for the forewarning, but I'm sure I can handle any more surprises your people could throw at me." She crossed her arms as she finished speaking, striking a pose of utter confidence as she stood.

* * *

 _ **Later that day  
Barracks B14  
**_

"So, hold on. What is this thing exactly?" Satomi asked as she held up and stared the odd, grey fabric. It had a trio of long strap cloths that connected to two large circular pieces of cloth that cupped outward. She sat on the bottom bed of a double bunk bed, with Armstrong right next to her putting away her own clothes.

"Its a bra. An undergarment for women, like panties." The African woman answered as she folded some of her clothes. In truth, Fireteam Whiskey was honestly surprised when they were told they would be returning to Everest and basically acting as escorts for Satomi when they learned she had agreed to stay here for a month, but they all suspected that it was likely to keep them from causing anymore trouble planetside.

Satomi nodded slightly, she knew what panties were, but none as well made as the ones she was currently wearing. They had those back home, but she had never seen a bra before. The fabric was incredibly soft to the touch, and seemed very flexible but durable.

"So what does it do?"

"Basically, its design to support your breast." Oliver answered from the bunk next to them, laying down and fooling around on his data-pad.

"What, like bindings?"

"Bindings?"

"Yeah, you know, a long roll of cloth that we wrap around our breast to keep them from... well, bouncing and chafing." Satomi said, speaking a little more softly at the last part, as if it was embarrassing or taboo to talk about in public.

Lydia blinked, "Oh, okay." She suddenly chuckled, "Doesn't honestly sound all that comfortable."

Satomi's face went gloomy, "You have no idea..." Causing Lydia to laugh, "Al-alright, well I'm sure this will be a lot more comfy so how's about we try it on you?"

Looking back to Oliver and Robert, who was above him asleep, she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She then grabbed a towel to put up on the bunk to cover any view. Oliver didn't notice it at first, but finally did when it was put up. He narrowed his eyes in confusion, "The hell are you guys doing?"

"Don't look over here." Was all he got as a reply. He rolled his eyes, but then thought about it. Was it really okay for Satomi, who was by their definition a civilian, to be housed with him and the other Marines? Sure he had seen plenty of his fellow marines and naval personnel nude, but he wasn't sure what protocol said regarding civilians.

After a couple moments of relative quiet, he suddenly heard Satomi exclaim with pure glee, "Oh Kami, this is sooo comfortable! What in the world have we been doing without this?!" He heard Lydia laughing. "I'm definitely showing the girls this back home!"

* * *

 _ **June 12, 2543  
UNSC Everest  
Latrine/Shower Room A2**_

Satomi could only gawk in pure shock at the sight before her, her face beet red in embarrassment. "W-w-what the hell is this?!"

She was currently standing at the entrance to the locker room to enter the showers, where she saw at least a couple dozen different crewmen and soldiers in various states of undress. While she had seen people naked before, what made this incredibly awkward was that there didn't seem to be any segregate sections for either men or women. Nope, they were just walked right up to beside one another and just started stripping down.

"What? It's a shower room." Rhineford replied, confused as to what exactly she was freaking out about.

"Why are there guys in here with the girls?!" Satomi demanded to know.

"We're on a spaceship." Rhineford deadpanned, "We can't exactly waste room on luxuries such as a gender specific shower."

"I-I can't shower here with all of these guys! This is indecent! Everybody will see me!"

"Why? It's not like you have anything they haven't seen already." Lydia said, chuckling as she starting taking off her own shirt, lifting it over her head as she walked over to one of the lockers. "Besides, nobody's really here to peek on one another. They're hear to get cleaned up before work. Have you never seen a guy naked before or something?"

"Th-that doesn't make this anymore appealing or reassuring! And yes, I have! THIS-" She gestured towards the people in the shower room, "Is completely different, though!"

"Well, its either that or don't shower. Your choice." Simon replied behind her, shrugging as he walked towards a locker. He was soon followed by Robert and Oliver, who looked back at her before trying to reassure her, "Don't worry. Nobody's gonna touch you or anything."

Satomi was hesitant to go in, but at the same time she couldn't just not shower. So, steeling herself up, she walked into the shower room, trying her best not to look at the several men in the room in various states of undress. Finding a locker next to Lydia, she opened it up and tried to make the locker door cover as much of her from view as possible. Several people around her were conversing and joking with one another, completely ignoring the fact that most were naked. This dumbfounded Satomi, and, though she would never admit aloud, there were quite a few good-looking guys in the room... okay, a lot of good-looking guys in the room, which didn't make this any easier.

Beside her, Oliver suddenly stepped up beside her and opened up the locker. She could stare wide eyed as he took off his shirt and started to take off his pants, causing her to look away blushing, the image of his muscular physique now burned into her mind. This was definitely going to take some getting used to. Slowly, and rather hesitantly, she removed her shirt and pants, leaving herself in nothing but a bra and panties.

Looking to her left, she saw that Lydia was already naked, but was choosing to wait on her before entering the showers. "Come on. Bra and panties, too."

"D-do I have to?"

"Since those are the only pairs of underwear you've got? Yes."

"Are you not the least bit embarrassed?" Satomi inquired, dumbfounded by the prospect of a women just walking around, surrounded by several men, also naked, and not be bothered in the slightest.

Looking around the room, Lydia merely shrugged, "Not really. It's not it's anything they haven't seen before."

"So you're not bothered knowing some of the guys are probably staring at your body?"

She giggled, "Oh, they can stare all they want." Lydia turned slightly, presenting her rear to Satomi, "They know they can't handle this." She winked, giving her butt a slight smack. Satomi just gawked at her, causing the African woman to laugh. "Alright, now get your clothes off."

"Come on, seriously?" Satomi half protest, half whined.

"It's either that or you can walk around with wet clothes all day." She countered.

Sighing in defeat, knowing that walking around with wet clothing wasn't a much better option, so with a swallowing of her pride, she slowly started removed her bra.

* * *

Beside her, Oliver Rhineford had finished removing and storing his clothes, and was getting ready to head into the showers, but a couple marines next to him were goofing around, shoving and grappling with one another. While normally this wasn't a problem, personnel were explicitly forbidden from doing any sort of rough-housing in the shower room, namely from the risk of somebody slipping and hurting themselves from the wet floors. That didn't stop one or two from doing it every now and then, though.

Rhineford, despite not being a NCO, still had an obligation to make sure none of his fellow soldiers got hurt doing something stupid. He closed his locker before moving to stop them, but one of them shoved the other, who fell back and slammed into him. Normally, he would have been able to handle someone bumping into him, but someone who had come in before him had apparently dropped a bar of soap and forgot to pick it up.

Rhineford, who had been forced to move by the suddenly extra weight on his back and shoulder, felt his foot slip out from underneath him and started falling forward. Instinctively, he reached out and tried to grab something to break his fall, his hands grabbing something but he hit his head on an open locker. All he heard as he fell was a squeak of shock and crashed to the ground.

Behind him, he could hear one of the NCO yelling at the two marines, before forcing them to drop and start do pushups as he regained his senses. Angered and without looking beneath him, he turned back and yelled, "What the fuck, man?! Fucking hit my head, assholes!" He held a hand up to his forehead to see if he was cut or bleeding. He didn't feel anything cut, but quickly had his attention brought to Lydia, who was doing her best to hide her snickering. "Trying to get your cherry popped, Oliver?"

"What?" He asked, but stopped as his brain suddenly registered something. The floor was a lot softer and squishier than it should be. Looking down, to his horror, he saw that he had landed on top of Satomi. And his hand was grabbing her bare breast. Blushing madly, Satomi could only manage out a small squeak in her humiliating and angry state. Rhineford, mortified and embarrassed at the situation, immediately removed his hand and stammered out, "I'm so sorry. I swear, it was an accident!" All around the two, people started laughing, whistling, and catcalling at the two's embarrassing position.

This didn't last very long, as the room was filled with the sound of static electricity. Everyone's laughter turned into shouts of shock and panic, some of them even pointlessly jumping onto the lockers, as Satomi, her entire arm dancing with electricity, punched Rhineford and electrocuted him. The poor marine screamed out as he was electrocuted, all the while Satomi was shouting out, "PERVERT!"

Needless to say, a new unofficial rule had been made by the marines onboard the cruiser after this incident, that all males were to stay at least 10 feet away from Satomi in the shower room, lest they want to get shocked too. And poor Oliver Rhineford, after spending 4 days in the hospital, never entered the showers at the same time as the Marsh Kunoichi ever again.

* * *

 _ **June 23, 2543  
UNSC Everest  
Chow Hall B**_

"Oh this is sooo good." Satomi beamed as she continued to eat her breakfast, devouring the syrup covered pancakes. Fireteam Whiskey, along with a couple others, could only watch on, amazed that somebody could scarf down pancakes as quickly as she did.

At first, they had been worried because after the first couple of days on their ship and eating their food, Satomi had fallen ill. It was suspected that because the food wasn't from Shinsei, she may have gotten sick from a foreign pathogen. Luckily, it had been quickly resolved with a couple biochemical boosters, after further observations had indicated that the problem had been solved.

As she continued to eat their food, Fireteam Whiskey learned something about her, and the planet that they were going to call home. She apparently loves sweet food. Rhineford in particular had learned it was a great way to earn forgiveness with the Kunoichi if she was angry about something. The first time she had chocolate, she was amazed that something so sweet existed. Apparently, there were a number of beans and plants that were used for consumption and that were common on Earth that simply didn't exist on Shinsei, such as sugar canes, peanuts, cocoa beans, and coffee beans, meaning no such foods like chocolate or coffee. They did have a type of sugar beet, but it was a low quality species that wasn't suited for making sugar, nor had they apparently thought to do so. Bees, and in turn honey existed on Shinsei, but only three countries made it in any quantities that was suitable for trade, and even then only royalty would ever get their hands on it most of the time.

And apparently, Satomi has never had anything so sweet before. They had unknowingly made a sugar addict out of her with just a couple chocolate bars. Chocolate, syrup, cereal, it didn't matter. If it was sweet or had chocolate in it, she would eat it or at least try it.

* * *

 ** _July 1, 2543  
Timur Island (Iwamoto to Natives)  
250 Miles Above Construction Site of Capital, Tripolis  
_** ** _URF Bellicose_**

The Bellicose has had a long, if not extremely interesting life. Initially starting life as the UNSC Bellerophon, she was one of the first Paris-class Heavy Frigates ever to be put in service, entering service in 2491. It was cornered and captured by the URF in 2497, where it would continued to fight and serve as an Insurrectionist ship until it was supposedly destroyed on January 2, 2504 in the Theta Ursae Majoris System, when it disappeared into the gravity well of the system's Gas Giant. While the UNSC wouldn't see or hear from it again for nearly 4 decades, the truth was that the ship had performed the first ever in-atmosphere slipspace jump and spent the next 40 years helping the URF fight their own war with the Covenant. During that time, the Bellicose raked up a tally of 22 kills and 49 assists; with each Covenant Ship killed being shown as a tally mark beneath the ship's name on the sides of the hull.

The ship had gone through numerous upgrades and modifications. The narrow section of the ship that separated the engines from the rest of the ship was expanded by nearly half, which added a significant amount of space to store equipment or vehicles. The entire ship also had its Titanium-A armor increased by 30 cm, resulting in a total of 35 inches of armor protecting the Frigate. 8 more missile pods and 3 more point defense guns were added, giving it a significant boost to firepower. All in all, the Bellicose was now in a class of its own, and the URF had like the upgrades done to it so much that they implemented them to all the other Paris-classes; and similar ones to all the other Frigates that they had in their possession; creating a unique class of Frigate that had been dubbed by Julius and Atlas as the 'Bellicose-Class' Heavy Frigate.

Today, however, it was serving another role, since the new capital for their colony wasn't anywhere near finished. It was serving as the unofficial meeting place for what was being called 'The Council' for the meantime.

* * *

 _ **Bridge  
Sub-Level 2  
'Conference Room'**_

Inside the small room, ten people had just entered and seated, ready to discuss the future of their colony and how it was going to be managed. For the moment, they were known as 'The Council', but this name was only temporary until they solidified a more permanent form of government on Shinsei. The ten people represented various factions within their little... collective, ranging from UNSC, URF, to refugees who were fleeing the Covenant.

* * *

Admirals Preston Cole and Lyrenne Castilla represented the UNSC and URF as a whole, respectively, along with three more representing various groups within the two rival groups.

Colonel Leonard Barnes represented the UNSC's ODST, though the URF were largely opposed to the idea of the 'Helljumpers' being represented, especially one Rebecca Cole, especially considering she hadn't been added to attend the meeting.

Brigadier-General Klaudia Osada, a 44 year old Polish woman from the Colony Bliss, represented the UNSC's Marines and Army Units.

Captain Faolan Smios, a 31 year old Scotsman from Circumstance, was considered the leader of one of the URF's larger militias, the Razorbacks, who had agreed to come, so he had been sent to represent.

Richard Fraser, the 49 year old African and the former Governor of Alluvion.

Tamara Rihova, a 58 year old Czech and former Governor of Eridanus II.

Elliot Atkinson, a 37 year old American and former Chief Treasurer of the Colony Draco III.

Marita Thorsen, a 51 year old Norwegian Captain in command of a fleet of civilian mining ships that had fled the destruction of Kroedis II, all represented the various civilian factions, largely refugees, who were secretly coming to colonize the planet.

And the final person of the group was Azarov Korney Semenov, 39 year old Russian scientist from the colony Groombridge-1830, who represents the small number of scientists that they had at their disposal.

* * *

"Well, I suppose this is our first official meeting." Doctor Richard Fraser spoke, as everyone eyed one another. It was clear that, while everyone in this room had agreed to this endeavor, trust in one another was still going to be an issue. There was simply too much bad blood from decades of fighting between the UNSC and the Insurrectionists.

"Indeed. Well, first things first. How are our supplies at the moment? I know we're fine on food for the meantime, but what about resources needed to build our colony?" Atkinson inquired, shuffling in his seat.

"Not great." Thorsen answered, "Most of the civilian ships didn't come with many supplies, aside from food, clothing, and medical supplies. And while we have plenty of food from the Parabolas, the problem is our metal and rare mineral resources. The Springhills are filled with as much as they can carry, but they only have enough to sustain construction projects for about two months before we run out. And I already know from experience that is nowhere near enough to build a city."

"Let alone the various other projects and facilities we'll have to build, too." Atkinson muttered.

"So we'll start building mining facilities in the asteroid belt or even Shinsei's moon, Shīrudo. Certainly we'll find the resources we'll need to build our colony within the star system?" Doctor Fraser pointed out.

"That's not the problem. I've already had survey drones scout the nearby planets, moons, and asteroids, but the problem isn't spots to mine. The problem is that we don't have enough resources readily available to do everything we're wanting at once. Building those mining facilities will take weeks, months to build, as will everything else. We could be looking at upwards of 6 months before we can start sending people down to the surface." Thorsen countered.

She leaned in on the table, "Will our populace wait that long after travelling in space for so many months?"

"I can't honestly say they would. Some of them from the less developed colonies will probably be more understanding, but those from say Eridanus II and other, more developed colonies may not, likely expecting that something of a colony was already built for them." Fraser said. It wasn't a promising thought, the idea of the civilians protesting or rioting because they can't leave the ships. But what can they do?

"We could easily have some of them help out with construction. Not all the construction will require machines to do." Cole finally offered, after having stayed quiet and listen since the meeting began.

Rihova shook her head, "That would take time to train them properly, time we don't have." she argued, "And we don't have anywhere near enough drones to supplant our experienced workforce."

"I'm afraid that's just what we'll have to do." General Osada intoned, "We just don't have that many engineers and construction workers, we'll have to train more eventually."

"Is everyone in agreement, then?" Fraser offered, as no-one else seemed to have a solution. Castilla had considered maybe they could get the locals in to help, but immediately cast it down. Cole and the UNSC would never agree to it, and after what happened on the island a couple weeks earlier, she wasn't sure if just handing over a bunch of advanced tech was such a good idea.

She noticed that Faolan was glaring daggers into the back of Barnes' skull, who was looking at the civilian leaders. The ODST Colonel was either unaware or ignoring the Rebel leader, she wasn't sure which. She sighed, not blaming the Captain. Hell, she was still half expect a bunch of ONI Agents to come swarming in and detaining them any second, despite the fact they had been very thorough with locating any ONI agents amongst the civilians and having them 'disappear'. Trust was definitely going to be an issue.

Everyone nodded as they moved on to the next subject of the meeting. "Alright, now for the elephant in the room. Who exactly can we work with amongst these... 'Elemental Nations' and which ones should we be wary of?" Cole asked.

"Atlas, pull up a map of the Elemental Nations, with national territories outlined." Barnes spoke, followed a few seconds later by the table's display screen changing to an orbital view of the Elemental Nations, with nations and territories outlined.

"So what do we know exactly about these nations?" Osada inquired. Korney stood in his seat, "If I may, my folk have been largely the ones studying and observing these natives for the past 5 years, so I probably can fill you in on anything you want to know. Well, anything that the local girl hasn't covered already."

He cleared his throat before continuing, "From what we've gathered, there are currently a total of 37 nations within the region, among those are 5 nations considered the strongest, known as the '5 Great Shinobi Nations'." Said nations were highlighted on the display, their names and relevant info displayed as well.

"Rather interesting choice of names. I think I'm seeing a pattern here." Thorsen joked.

"Fire Country, Lightning Country, Water Country, Wind and Earth Countries. These are the most powerful in this region?" Barnes asked. Kroney nodded, " _Da._ And from the looks of the land around these major countries, it looks like they're recovering from some kind of massive conflict." The display zoomed in on several areas across the region, showing vast sways of charred and battle-stricken land, even a few villages that were nothing more than smoldering ruins.

"Satomi did say there had been a massive war that had ended just 3 years earlier." Barnes mused, remembering a conversation with the Marsh Kunoichi on the subject of local politics. He couldn't remember what she had called it.

"Yes, the '3rd Shinobi World War', and it will probably be several more years before they fully recover from the looks of it, which presents us with a unique opportunity to fill in and surpass these '5 Great Shinobi Nations' as the new Superpower." Lyrenne added.

"Yeah, but we'll have to build our nation first before we can do that. Plus, there's numerous issues we'd have to face first, especially the issue of economics." Atkinson countered, "If we flood the market with resources, which I know we're very capable of doing, we could cause a local collapse of the economy and cause resentment."

"Right, but we do have access to resources they don't. There would be demand for some, such as certain cash crops if Ms. Takashima's reaction is anything to go off of." Dr. Fraser said, knowing everyone here had seen the footage of Satomi eating chocolate for the first time. Though at first they considered it unimportant, they quickly realized the potential stranglehold on the market they could have, since so few sweet foods existed on Shinsei.

"Plus, we'll have to wise about our build up and attempts to unify the planet, otherwise they look at us as nothing more than conquerors trying to take over." Fraser stated.

Suddenly they all heard a snort, "Isn't tha' what we're tryin' to do?" Faolan spoke up, his Scottish accent laced with amusement. They all looked at him, some glaring, others merely looking at him.

"Look, you can sugarcoat it all ye want, it doesn't change the fact that we are comin' here as conquerors. We are plannin' to take over."

"Fair enough, but we don't them to think of us as such." Lyrenne countered.

"They'll think whatever the fook they want to about us. If their leaders see us as a threat, they'll convince their people we are one. Between the two, who do you think they'll trust more?" She didn't want to admit it, but Faolan did have a point. Plus, she was certain that Faolan wasn't here for the sake of the human race, more likely still looking to get in Rebecca's pants. That thought disgusted her, knowing what kind of man Faolan was. He was everything the UNSC made the URF out to be. A terrorist, murderer, pirate. Faolan's been all of these things at one point or another, and she didn't like his interest in her daughter one bit.

"We'll have to cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now, like Elliot and Marita said, our three biggest problems are economics, resources, and constuction. I think our defensive capabilities could be worked on, but that can come later along with the diplomacy." Barnes chimed in, trying to change the subject.

"With a total of, what, 8 Frigates, a Cruiser an' a shit ton of aircraft? What the fook are they gonna do against that? I think we'll be fine against the locals, Helldog." Faolan retorted.

"Oh, wooow. Helldog. Going old school with the name calling here. Been a while since I've heard that one." Barnes mockingly complimented. "First off, William Wallace, we've only seen a small portion of what they 'could' do, not a full demonstration. We don't know what they're fully capable of, just an idea of what they can do. Second off, those fuckers we fought a couple weeks back were just the basic infantry, no special forces, if what we've gather is correct. And despite that, they were able to kill 28 ODST troopers. Elite soldiers." His eyes narrowed, as he propped his head on the table with his right hand while his left hand went under the table, "I'd like to see your Razordicks do better."

Faolan suddenly pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Barnes' head. Most of the people in the room either backed up or tried to pull out their own PDWs, thinking Faolan was about to start shooting, but Barnes simply sat there, unmoved.

"Better be careful about what ya' say, fookface. It might get ya' killed." The Scotsman threatened, with a predatory grin on his face.

"Or what, fookface?" Barnes mocked in a fake Scottish accent, "You gonna pull out your willy an' try to convince me it's magically delicious?"

"You'd like that, wouldn't ya, faggot?"

"However, while you could kill me if you shoot, if I shoot on the other hand," Barnes smiled as he took his right hand and made a pointing motion at his left hand, which was still under the table, "You can say goodbye to any future children."

The grin on Faolan's face disappeared, leaning back slightly in confusion. He couldn't of pulled out his pistol, his hand hadn't move since he put it down there. He wanted to glance down under the table, to see if the Colonel was bluffing or not, but didn't dare do it. As far as he knew, Barnes could be lying and was just trying to get him off guard in order to pull out his own pistol.

The sound of a gun cocking under the table answered his question.

"Alright, children." They turned to see Lyrenne with a pistol in both hands, aiming at both of them, "If we're done arguing, sit down, holster your weapons, and shut up."

Faolan's face scrunched up in irritation, clearly wanting to shoot the ODST in front him. "FAL! Holster your gun or I swear to god I'm gonna put two bullets in you!" Lyrenne threatened, having finally lost her patience. Reluctantly he holstered his pistol, still glaring at the Colonel. Lyrenne looked over to Barnes, "You too."

Glancing over to the URF Admiral, he sighed, "Alright, alright. To be fair, though," he spoke as he pulled his left hand out, to everyone's disbelief, revealing he had his fingers making a little two-fingered hand pistol, "this is a pretty dangerous weapon. The bane of every woman." He chuckled.

Lyrenne, along with everyone else, could only gawk in utter disbelief at the ODST Colonel, "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"No, seriously. Every time I've seen a woman who sees this bad boy in action, they can't help but squeal out." Barnes joked. Lyrenne couldn't but shake her head and roll her eyes in Faolan, furious he had been tricked, snarled as he stood to pull his pistol back out. Barnes, however, pulled out his own with lightning fast reflexes, having it aimed at the Scotsman's head before he even had his halfway brought up.

"Better be careful what ya' do, fookface. It might get ya' killed." Barnes mocked, again in a fake Scottish accent.

"Enough! Both of you!" Cole finally ordered, standing up and pulling out his pistol from under the table, revealing he had been the one cocking the pistol.

Fraser sighed at the situation. Lyrenne had been right earlier, trust was definitely going to be an issue.

* * *

 _ **Later that day  
UNSC Everest  
Officer's Barracks**_

"Well, that could have gone better." Barnes mused as he sat down on his bunk.

"It would have gone better if you hadn't antagonized Faolan." Atlas scowled as he hologram appeared on his hand.

"He was already looking for a fight. The fucker's unstable. I don't know what the hell Lyrenne was thinking bringing him into this." Barnes replied as he fiddled with his datapad, going through the music listings.

"Regardless, you need to stop being so careless."

"Alright, alright." He conceited as he put on headphones and clicked on one of the songs in his listing. Laying back on the bed, he fished out his wallet and pulled out an old worn out photo as the song started playing. On the photo was a woman roughly his age, with mid length dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. Beside either of her were two teenagers, one a boy with short brown hair and hazel eyes, and the other being a girl of the same age, also with brown hair, reaching to her shoulders, and hazel eyes also.

He stared at the photo for the longest time, before gently kissing it and laying back onto the bed. He closed his eyes as he let himself get lost in the song.

 **"Trouble..."  
** **"Trouble, Trouble, Trouble, Trouble..."**

* * *

 ** _July 14, 2543  
Marsh Country  
Roughly 7 miles outside of Hidden Marsh Village  
Fireteam Whiskey/Kingpin_**

Barnes had his Battle Rifle raised as the group was surrounded by at least 3 dozen ninja and dozens more ashigaru, all of them ordering the group to lower their weapons while menacingly displaying their own. Beside him, his fellow ODST and Army troopers were in a circle, weapons raised as they aimed at one target to another, while Satomi was trying to get the ninja to stand down and explain the situation.

Barnes could only mutter out one thing at that moment. "Ah, shit."

 **"Trouble been doggin' my soul since the day I was born"**

* * *

 **United Dominion Archives**

 **(2544 Edition)**

* * *

 **Elemental Nations**

* * *

 **Honey Country**

Founded: 2512 TC (Terran Calendar)  
Capital: Fuzou  
Current Daimyo: Kawakami Anzai (59 years old)

Population: 3.8 million  
Army Size: (Est.)  
30,000 Ashigaru Conscripts  
12,000 Samurai

National Ratings: (On a scale of 1-10)

Military: 3.5/10  
Economy: 7.5/10  
Industry: 4.5/10  
Infrastructure: 4/10  
Population: 2.5/10

Total Rating: (Out of 50)  
22/50

* * *

 **Geography**

Climate: Temperate  
Dominant Biomes:  
Temperate Forest  
Grass Savanna  
Tree Savanna

Average High/Low Temperatures:  
(Summer) October: 78°F  
(Winter) March: 30°F

Highest Elevation:  
991 meters (3,251 Feet)  
Mount Shidao

Lowest Elevation:  
-43 meters (141 Feet)  
Kuzunai Village

* * *

 **Country Bio:** A country born out of the fires of the 2nd Shinobi World War (2506-2512), Honey Country is a break off country of the old Sky Empire, which fell apart and collapsed into numerous states in the last years of the war, along with the early post-war years. Honey Country was 'founded' during the war by the Rebel factions within the region, fighting the Imperial Shinobi and Samurai of the Sky Country, in 2511. However, the country wasn't 'Officially' recognized by the other nations until after the war's end.

As opposed to some of the other breakaway states, who spent the next couple of decades dealing with anarchist, bandits, and pirate factions, Honey Country remained surprisingly stable, with very few bandits and pirate gangs ever managing to establish a foothold in the land before being either driven out or crushed. It also had the benefit of having a largely undamaged infrastructure, which allowed it to quickly capitalize on one advantage it had over the other. It's industry was much more developed than the other regions of the former Sky Empire, as many rare metals and ores are situated in its lands. It is one of the only nations that produces honey, its namesake, in the Elemental Nations. It is also the largest supplier of Honey, along with Silk (a title formerly held by Water Country before its Civil War broke out.)

Honey Country is situated in what was once one of the Sky Empire's economic zones, where commerce was the main focus of the region. With over a half dozen deep-water ports and over a dozen smaller ports in their possession, commerce quickly became Honey Country's main source of income. This lead to a vastness of wealth and influence that made them the envy of many neighbors, and allowed them to build a significant navy that dissuades piracy in their waters.

So why hasn't anyone invaded or tried to invade Honey Country? It's rich in resources and luxury goods would make it a prime target to conquer. The reason is rather simple: any invading nation would lose more in occupying Honey as opposed to trading with it. Honey Country is well aware of its appeal towards invasion from a foreign power, and have numerous contingencies in place should they find themselves in a war they can't win, which includes the destruction of the various mines and farms that produce their goods, along with any other strategically important targets such as ports and factories. This would force the invading nation to spend months if not years repairing and rebuilding the damage caused by both the fighting and a retreating army conducting a scorched earth policy.

In essence, it's more economically viable, and practical, to simply trade with the Land of Honey rather than attempted an occupation.

Today, Honey Country has a strong economy and has developed strong ties with the United Dominion, despite having to compete with them now in trade. Regardless, many believe that relations will only improve between the two and in the near future Honey could very well join the United Dominion as a couple of nations (or regions, as some would call them.) have already. But this remains to be seen, as only time will truly tell if this is the case.

* * *

/-\

\\-/

* * *

 **Demon Country**

Founded: 2241 TC (Terran Calendar)  
Capital: Jinpo  
Current Daimyo: Takenaka Fusaie (52 years old)

Population: 10.42 million  
Army Size: (Est.)  
70,000 Ashigaru Conscripts  
10,000 Samurai

National Ratings: (On a scale of 1-10)

Military: 4/10  
Economy: 3/10  
Industry: 2/10  
Infrastructure: 3/10  
Population: 5.5/10

Total Rating: (Out of 50)  
17.5/50

* * *

 **Geography**

Climate: Dry  
Dominant Biomes:  
Shrubland  
Grassland  
Mediterranean Forest

Average High/Low Temperatures:  
(Summer) October: 88°F  
(Winter) March: -3°F

Highest Elevation:  
1,674 meters (5,492 Feet)  
Nagawara Mountain

Lowest Elevation:  
-655 meters (2,148 Feet)  
Ergas Cove

* * *

 **Hidden Demon Village**

Founded: 2311 TC (Terran Calendar)  
Current 'Sukaikage': Kimura Saya /9th Akumakage\ (45 years old)

'Village' Population: 30,000  
Shinobi Force Size: (Est.)  
5,000 Shinobi

Village Ratings: (On a scale of 1-10)

Military: 4/10  
Economy: 3/10  
Industry: 3.5/10  
Infrastructure: 4/10  
Population: 4/10

Total Rating: (Out of 50)  
18.5/50

* * *

 **Country Bio:** Demon Country is rather unique amongst the Elemental Nations. Instead of being a solid state, it acts more like a closely knit confederation of clans and villages. When the Sky Empire had begun to encroach on their lands, the various clans, villages, and towns that made up the regions band together and formed what was later called the Confederacy of the Demon States, or Demon Country to outsiders. Initially, the land had no Daimyo, but that changed when the first Akumakage, Okazaki Toshiki, founded the Hidden Demon Village in 2311. Realizing the need for a centralized power, he sought out a Daimyo that could unify the land. While he would eventually succeed in doing so, the first Daimyo, Kushizu Takanaka, annointed in 2317, would have nowhere near the authority and power other Daimyos in other countries. Instead, power is divided between the Akumakage, the Daimyo, and a council consisting of 120 clan heads and village leaders. The closest comparison to how the pre-Daimyo Demon Country worked would be the Roman Republic's senate, though not quite exact as much of the details regarding its function have either been lost to history or are closely guarded by the Demon Government.

Demon Country can trace its history back to several nomadic tribes and clans that called the Eastern Continent their home. For many centuries, this stayed largely unchanged, until the beginning of the second millennium TC, when the various tribes and clans began settling towns and villages, and started forming small city states. These city states would compete and battle one another for many centuries over various resources and land, determined to achieve dominance in the region. This all changed, when the Sky Empire made first contact in the 2100s. Initially, none of the inhabitants of the demon plains had been past the 'great marsh', today Marsh County, many believing it was unpassable. However, the initial hostile first contact led to numerous wars and battles against the Empire, whose superior weapons and tactics more often than not would leave them victorious. This left the various city-states of the demon plains in a conundrum, they could either continue fighting each other and the Sky Empire at the same time, and likely be destroyed, or they could join forces and fight the Empire together. Though many were against the notion of working with former enemies, they reluctantly put their differences aside and fought against the Sky Empire, culminating in a stunning victory against the largely unbeaten Imperial Army in the Battle of Jamitoro Valley (2176), the largest land battle ever witnessed on the Eastern Continent where nearly 140,000 Demon warriors took on a 80,000 strong Imperial Army.

This battle, along with the sheer vastness and lack of significant resources within the demon plains, is largely considered to be the main reasons for the Sky Empire to eventually abandon their campaigns against the Demon people. Following their victory against the Sky Empire, the Demon people now realized the benefits of having allies, and since then, the ties amongst the various villages and clans only grew stronger, eventually leading to the creation of Demon Country.

In the following years after its founding, its history is largely uneventful save for occasional raids into Sky Territory and the interesting event where Demon Country became the first of the Elemental Nations to have a female Kage, (Sasaki Kina, 4th Akumakage; 2405-2431). Today, Demon country is considered a 'sleeping giant', mostly regarded as a backwards nation and not considered much of a threat by the rest of the world, but has the incredible potential to become a significant power should they ever modernize. It stayed out of the Shinobi World Wars and only took any significant action following the collapse of the Sky Empire, invading and conquering several neighbor states, from Neck and Wood Countries to the south, as well as Key and Silver Countries to the East, all of which have provided them fresh resources, such as iron and gold, to assist with their fledging industry. It would have grabbed the fledging Valley Country, had it not united with Marsh Country. Various reports have shown that Demon Country is indeed attempting to modernize, having already developed a large navy and a Samurai Army, though they have been rather slow to expand their Shinobi Force.

Should they ever fully modernize, they could become a significant power in the Elemental Nations.

* * *

 **And we'll leave it on a cliffhanger. Hey guys, how's it going? I know I haven't been uploading any new chapters lately, I've been extremely busy and just haven't had the time I used to. But, luckily that may change soon.**

 **For those wondering about the song at the end, that was "Trouble" by Ray LaMontagne. (Great song.)**

 **I have a couple announcements to make. The first is that I'm looking for fellow writers to collaborate on some of my stories with. The ones I'm looking to have some help are Halo-Naruto: The Fire Within; Breaking Los Santos (BB-GTA5); Gear of War-Mass Effect: Solis Primus; and Mass Effect: Titanfall. If any of you are interesting in collaborating with these stories, please pm me and I'll get back to you asap.**

 **The second announcement,** **I've decided that these chapters are going to be reduced in size, to roughly 6-12,000 words instead of the 15-20,000 words marathon chapters I've been writing. (This will apply to all my stories.) The reasons for this are A) to get these chapters out quicker and B) to try and regain some of my drive to write.**

 **Thanks again for all your support, feel free to leave a review. Constructive criticism is always welcomed, and I'll see you next time.**

 **-Azores**


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